Policy and practice: roles of the guidance and counseling teachers in the implementation of the girls’ reentry policy in selected schools in Lusaka, Zambia.
Date
2018
Authors
Mulenga, Innocent Mutale
Mukaba, Brenda
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Education and Practice
Abstract
The effectiveness of the guidance and counseling teachers in Zambia is partly determined by the extent to which
the schools meet the established girl’s reentry policy guidelines, how they conduct their counseling sessions with
the girls and what activities they put in place for the reentered girls so as to help them remain and perform well
in school. This paper is based on the study which evaluated the roles of the guidance and counseling teachers in
the implementation of the reentry policy from a management perspective in Lusaka, Zambia. The study’s main
purpose was to find out the extent to which the school guidance and counseling was helping the reentered girls in
reducing teenage pregnancies. The research method design was descriptive in nature and used a qualitative
approach. The research population was all the public primary and secondary schools in Lusaka district in Zambia.
Head teachers and guidance and counseling teachers were interviewed while information from the reentered girls
was obtained through questionnaires. The results of the study indicated that school managements had strived to
implement the policy through the help of guidance and counseling departments. It was revealed from the study
that the girls who did not want to go through counseling sessions had a lot of problems and dropped out of
school due to lack of skills to help them contain the pressure and stigma from their peers. The results of the study
also indicated that there seemed to be less sensitization on safer sex and abstinence for the girls in schools. The
guidance and counseling teachers did not have regular contacts with the reentered girls as a result the girls faced
a lot of problems both at home and at school which they struggled with on their own. Lack of a curriculum for
guidance and counseling had also contributed to less contact which the teachers had with the girls. The results of
the study also showed that the schools did not have specific programmes meant to help the reentered girls and
had no system of following them up when they went on leave hence, most of the girls decided to stop school.
The study results had also established that the schools had inadequate qualified guidance and counseling teachers
to effectively conduct the sessions with the girls.
Description
Keywords
Guidance and counseling. , Teenage pregnancy. , Reentered girls.