EFFECTIVENESS OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING PROGRAMME IN ENHANCING STUDENTS’ RETENTION IN PUBLIC DAY SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NYAHURURU SUB-COUNTY, KENYA

: Student retention in schools however remains a global challenge and affects any social establishment in the world irrespective of a societies’ civilization. Non -completion of secondary schooling continues to be a matter of concern for policymakers and practitioners worldwide. Non-retention of students in schools means schools producing citizens who are not adequately prepared to be absorbed into the country’s labor force; instead of becoming a liability to those whom they depend on. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to determine the effectiveness of guidance and counseling programme in enhancing students’ retention in public day secondary schools in Nyahururu Sub County, Laikipia County. The study used ex-post facto research design and was guided by the Person-Centered Theory and Retention Theory. Data was collected from proportionately sampled schools from the 26-public day secondary schools in the 6 zones namely: Gituamba, Igwamiti, Kinamba, Marmanet, Nyahururu and Salama of the sub-county which had a target of form 4 students’ population of 1855, 26 principals and 52 guidance and counseling teachers. Simple random sampling was used to determine the male and female students who were the primary respondents in this study while purposive sampling was used on the guidance and counseling teachers as well as the principals. A sample size of 341 participants was used in this study which comprised 174 boys, 155 girls, 6 guidance and counseling teachers and 6 principals. Data was collected using questionnaires that were filled by the student respondents and guidance and counseling teachers. An interview schedule was administered to the principals by the researcher. The validity Laikipia University. Reliability of the research instruments was achieved through a pilot study in 2 schools in the neighboring county of Nyandarua and were considered reliable after yielding a reliability coefficient of Cronbach’s alpha of 0.93. This indicated that the instruments were reliable. The data collected were sorted and analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Qualitative data were subjected to content analysis while quantitative data was analyzed descriptively in form of frequencies and percentages using SPSS version 24.0 software. The study found that the effectiveness of guidance and counseling programme enhanced students’ retention by helping students deal with challenges affecting personal and social life as well as academic achievement. The study recommended that the guidance and counseling programme should be supported by promoting teacher counsellor preparedness, the support given by the school administration and encouraging student gender receptiveness of the programme. The findings might benefit the Ministry of Education in enhancing students’ retention, school administrators in retaining students in school after enrolment, guidance and counseling teachers in acknowledging the input of guidance and counseling programme towards students’ retention, parents and students by getting enlightened on the support given in school to encourage students to remain focused in learning till completion of school.


Introduction
The effectiveness of guidance and counseling programme is essentially important according to Oviogbodu (2015) who averred that counseling is a procedural process that assists an individual to solve his problems. For students, molding them to gain from a holistic education system that is implemented to fitting the demands of the community. The personal and social development of young students has become the responsibility of learning institutions to the extent that today such institutions require a more formal structure and explicit definition of responsibilities (Owino, 2005). In addition to this, school guidance and counseling programmes have been introduced in schools to help students overcome challenges that accrue from home and school and which hinder them from remaining in school till graduation in the final grade.
The effectiveness of guidance and counseling programme as Kasomo (2009) observed is when individuals are helped to face the realities of life, identify talents, interests, needs and attitudes. Basically, for students aiming at helping them to develop and maintain healthy and effective interpersonal relationships. The same programme also helps the students to deal with their personal needs and evaluate the societal challenges facing them. This gradually develops life's goals that are individually satisfying and socially acceptable (UNESCO, 2006). This is beside the suggestion by Nthiga (2014) that students with secondary schooling increase their chances of formal sector employment and informal sector livelihood. This leads to say that, lack of total students' retention indicates that students face at risk factors that deter them from completing schooling which can be intervened by the effectiveness of guidance and counseling programme before the student drops out of school.
The National Center for Education Statistics compiled data about high school dropout and completion rates in the United States. Dropouts accounted for 8% of the 38 million non-institutionalized civilians 16-to-24-year old. These had been enrolled in high school and had not earned a high school diploma or equivalency credential and were living in the United States (Chapman et al., 2010). Additionally, males are more likely than females to drop out of high school according to (Chapman et al., 2010). This is basically the critical reason why school counselors are encouraged to carefully design and deliver strategic interventions aimed at increasing academic achievement with all students (Brown & Trusty, 2005). This enhanced preparedness empowers the counselor to play an integral role in identifying, monitoring, intervening, and following up with atrisk, potential dropout students (White & Kelly, 2010). Such a scenario will definitely take care of the at-risk factors that work against students' retention.
The Education for All (EFA) Monitoring Report (2006) showed that 70 percent of children enrolled in Sub-Saharan Africa did not reach the last grade level of education. And according to a report by United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and United Nations International Children's Education Fund (UNICEF) on Global Education Magazine, in total, 121 million children and adolescents have never started school or dropped out despite the international community's promise to achieve Education for All by 2015. Far-reaching is the realization of the fact that both genders are affected by poor student retention in schools.
In Kenya, the genesis of formal guidance and counselling programme dates back to as early as the 1960s. The program was introduced in the country in 1963 during the first Guidance and Counselling Career Conference held to discuss career choices among students in learning institutions. In addition, the Ministry of Education Science and Technology (MOEST, 2005) set up structures and mechanisms that have seen decentralizing the supervision and coordination of guidance and counseling activities from the ministry headquarters to the County level. The aim is to develop resource materials for facilitating guidance and counseling in schools by the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) together with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC). Both instituting guidance and counseling departments in schools (KIE, 2004) to boost the provision of guidance and counseling services in Kenyan schools. The Ministry of Education (MoE) also directed all learning institutions in the country to establish guidance and counselling programme. The (TSC) also organizes and facilitates seminars to equip the school administrators in order to guide their support to the guidance and counseling programme. From this, the teachers in the guidance and counseling department gain knowledge on how to do guidance and counseling in the schools. The legislation of the Counselors and Psychologists Act (2014) also gave more impetus as there is a body empowered to regulate and improve counseling services in Kenya. Secondary school students form one admission promises success in the future to each of the students that enroll and join secondary schools. However, students' retention in secondary schools remains a global challenge and affects any social establishment in the world irrespective of student socialization. Despite the Government of Kenya setting to finance Free Day School Learning (FDSL) from January, 2018, in Nyahururu Sub-County; Laikipia County, many students who are enrolled to join secondary school do not complete secondary school level according to Nyahururu Sub-County Education office. This happening indiscriminately in the sub-counties with Nyahururu Sub-County, not an exception. Hence, while guidance and counseling are deemed to offer the solution to these challenges, there is a research gap and this study, therefore, sought to establish the effectiveness of guidance and counseling programme in enhancing students' retention in public day secondary schools in Nyahururu Sub-County, Kenya.

Research Methodology
The research design is the specific method a researcher employs to collect, analyze and interpret data (Stangor, 2004). This study adopted the ex-post facto which establishes the influence of the independent variable on the dependent variable while the researcher holds no control over the independent variable. The use of ex-post facto design centers on cause and effect relations rather than intrusive manipulations that may cross the ethical boundaries of using human participants as subjects (Ary & Sorensen, 2009). Mugenda and Mugenda (2013) clarifies the use of human participants in research by indicating that data is collected from members of a population in order to determine the current status of that population with respect to one or more variables; therefore, studying the characteristics of the particular group of people in order to describe some aspects or characteristics of the population of which that group is part (Privitera, 2014). In this design, the researcher was concerned with the diligent collection of data, recording, analyzing, and interpretation of results without the researcher manipulating the variables. This study, therefore, sought to examine the effectiveness of guidance and counseling programme in enhancing students' retention.

Population of the Study
A population of a study refers to the entire group of individuals to which a researcher aspires to generalize the outcome of the study (Mugenda & Mugenda, 2003). The study population of this study included the principals, the guidance and counseling teachers and the students of the 26-day secondary schools found in Nyahururu sub-county which are distributed in 6 zones. The form 4 students' population from which data was collected is 1855 (981 boys, 874 girls) out of which the accessible population was drawn for the study. Important in this study besides the guidance and counseling teacher was the principal because he or she held key information in the office on the enrollment of students, and the manner of transition and retention of students in the school. Secondly, the researcher chose the form 4 male and female students because they had spent a considerable time in the school of almost completing four years. Some have even managed challenges that the girls and boys had to contend with while schooling. Table 2 below shows the distribution of the number of schools, principals, guidance and counseling teachers, boys and girls in the 6 zones of Nyahururu Sub-County.

Sample Size and Sampling Procedure
Sampling is a process of selecting a number of individuals or objects from a population such that the selected group contains the element of the characteristics found in the entire population (Privitera, 2014;Orodho & Kombo, 2002). This is because, it is possible to reach an accurate conclusion by examining only a small part of the group (Kasomo, 2006). A representative sample is important because the researchers want to generalize the results, they observe in a sample to those in the target population (Privitera, 2014). According to Kombo and Tromp (2005) in random sampling, all individuals in the defined population have equal and independent chances of being selected as members of the sample. The researcher will use a proportionate sampling method for the schools and purposive sampling for the principals and the guidance and counselling teachers. The researcher used simple random sampling to pick students in form four. The sample of students' respondents was determined using a coefficient and variation.

Research Instrumentation
The researcher developed various instruments that were used to collect data from principals, guidance and counseling teachers and students. The instruments were developed in relation to the research objectives. The researcher used the triangulation method of data collection (John & James, 2006) where two or more research instruments are used to collect the required data. The researcher used a closed-ended questionnaire for the students and guidance and counseling teachers while an interview schedule was used for the principals.

Validity and Reliability of the Study
Validity is the extent to which an assessment measures what is purported to measure (Privitera, 2014). The researcher ensured the validity of the research instruments by establishing the face validity of the instruments. The instruments were also validated by the research experts in the school of education at Laikipia University. The expert judgment was incorporated and adapted to modify the instruments' face validity. Instrument reliability refers to the level of the internal consistency or the stability of the measuring device (Mugenda & Mugenda, 2013). Reliability focuses on whether the instruments used in research give consistency or precision of measurement when repeated under similar circumstances (Privitera, 2014). A pilot study was conducted before the actual study to confirm the validity and reliability of the instruments. Piloting is key because it proves whether the tools or instruments that the researcher is using are to achieve the desired purpose in the research. Piloting involves doing a collection of information with a small number of participants to see whether there are unanticipated difficulties (Breakwell et al., 2012). Before the main research study, the pilot study data was important to determine the reliability of the instrument; also, improving the reliability of the instruments by adjustment of the questionnaire where the error was found. Piloting the questionnaire and interview schedule was key to establishing ambiguities, poorly worded questions, questions that were not understandable or unclear choices given. To compute the reliability of the instruments, the data collected from the pilot study were recorded, analyzed, and interpreted. In addition, Cronbach's coefficient alpha method was used to determine the internal consistency of the items. The usefulness of this method is essential owing to the fact that it requires only one administration of the test (Privitera, 2014;Cohen & Swerdlik, 2005) equivalently appropriate where also items have choices. In this study, research instruments were deemed reliable because they yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.93 in comparison to Cronbach's coefficient alpha of 0.70 and above which is considered for an instrument in a scientific study.

Data Collection Procedure
The researcher upon obtaining the introduction letter from Laikipia University, office of the Directorate of Graduate school, also sought a research permit from the National Council for Science and Technology and Innovations (NACOSTI). The researcher thereafter reported to the Sub-County Director of Education who issued a letter to the school principals allowing the researcher to conduct the research. For more clarity, the researcher explained the purpose of the study and then was granted verbal permission to carry out data collection from the targeted population in the school. The questionnaire and the interview schedule were administered to the selected students and the G/C teachers, who were given time to respond to the items in the questionnaires. The researcher interviewed the principals on the effectiveness of G/C programme. After administration, the researcher collected and prepare the filled questionnaires and interview schedule for analysis.

Results and Discussion
This chapter discusses and presents the findings of the study which comprises of; the analysis of data collected and its interpretation in relation to the objectives. The discussion in this chapter is divided into sections as; the response rate, demographic information of the respondents and the research objectives which is the effectiveness of guidance and counseling programme in enhancing student's retention. Data from the questionnaires were coded and analyzed using SPSS version 24.0 programme. After keying the data into the programme, it was run to obtain descriptive statistics in the form of frequencies and percentages.

Demographic Characteristic of the Respondents
Before analyzing the findings collected from the field, the researcher analyzed the demographic characteristic of the respondents. The information of the respondents was broken into two major sub-groupings namely; form 4 students section, guidance and counseling teachers and principals section.

Distribution of Students by Gender
Students' distribution by gender is summarized in Table 3.  Table 3 indicates that the majority of respondents were male 166 (52.4%) while 151 (47.6%) were female. The gender ratio showed a close gap between male and female students and thus was considered adequate to bring out the opinions of either gender on the effectiveness of guidance and counseling programme in public day secondary schools in Nyahururu Sub-County, Kenya.

Distribution of Guidance and Counseling Teachers and Principals by Gender
Data displaying the distribution of guidance and counseling teachers and principals by gender are summarized in Table 4. The gender distribution of guidance and counseling teachers and principals indicated that male and female gender were equally distributed; male (50%) and female (50%) in the schools that participated in the research.

Effectiveness of Guidance and Counseling Programme in Enhancing Students' Retention
The objective of this study sought to determine whether the effectiveness of the guidance and counseling programme enhanced students' retention in Nyahururu Sub-County, Laikipia County, Kenya. To realize this objective, the students and guidance and counseling teachers were requested to rank their degree of agreement on the effectiveness of guidance and counseling programme in public day secondary schools under the scale; Not effective, less effective, Neutral, Effective and Very effective. Data on students' responses on the effectiveness of guidance and counseling programme in enhancing students' retention was summarized in Table 5.  Table 5 shows that 151 (48.1%) of students agreed with the statement that effective use of guidance and counseling services was very effective, 84 (26.8%) of students agreed that the statement was effective, 32 (10.2%) of students agreed that the statement was neutral, while 16 (5.0%) of students agreed the statement was less effective and 31 (9.8%) of students agreed the statement was not effective. The study findings showed that the majority (85.1%) of students in public day secondary schools in Nyahururu Sub-County agreed that effective use of guidance and counseling services encouraged students to learn. This implied that when students sought and consulted the guidance and counseling teacher effectively, it encouraged the will of students to remain in school. This meant that students using guidance and counseling services in the intervention of different schooling challenges enhanced students' attending school to completion in public day secondary schools. The findings agreed with Egbo (2015) stated that a guidance and counseling programme is made to help school-going children to adjust meaningfully to the environment, develop the ability to set realistic goals and improve on the education programme. This indicated that students are inspired by guidance and counseling services which gives them a clear perspective of their aspired goals in education and therefore continue learning to aim to attain the goals.
Students 113 (36.6%) agreed with the statement that effective help from the guidance and counseling teacher on personal life like drug and substance use was very effective, 83 (26.9%) of students agreed that the statement was effective, 39 (12.6%) of students agreed that the statement was neutral while 28 (9.1%) of students agreed that the statement was less effective and 46 (14.9%) of students agreed that the statement was not effective. The study findings brought out that the majority (76.1%) of students in public day secondary schools in Nyahururu Sub-County considered that effective help from the guidance and counseling teacher on personal life like on drug and substance use encouraged students to learn. This means that when students are guided on avoiding drug and substance use, then focus is maintained in learning which enhances retention. This indicated that drug and substance use divert students' attention from learning and becomes a risk factor for students to leave school. This finding is in agreement with The World Drug Report (2011) which underscored that guidance and counselling have been used the world over as first-line intervention to Drug and Substance Abuse among the youth (UNODC, 2011). This effectiveness of guidance and counseling on personal life offers an opportunity that helps on feelings such as anger, anxiety, grief and embarrassment that lead students to abuse drugs. Therefore, through guidance and counseling services, students are encouraged to continue learning to completion.
Students 110 (35.1%), agreed with the statement that availability of guidance and counseling whenever faced with challenges from home like lack of financial support was very effective, 75 (24.0%) of students agreed that the statement was effective, 58 (18.5%) of students agreed that the statement was neutral, while 26 (8.3%) of students agreed that the statement was less effective and 44 (14.1%) of students agreed that the statement was not effective. The study outcome showed that the majority (77.6%) of students in public day secondary schools in Nyahururu Sub-County agreed with the statement that availability of guidance and counseling whenever faced with challenges from home like the lack of financial support helped students to be retained in school. This implied that students were encouraged by the guidance and counseling teacher intervening in the challenges of paying school fees. This means that when counseling teachers helped the students to plan with the school administration on how to comfortably settle school fees without being sent home, it encouraged students to be at ease to learn until they finish. By stepping in and offering a way forward, a student is lifted off the burden of worrying about school fees and thus prevented from dropping out from school.
Students 107 (34.5%) agreed with the statement that provision of guidance and counseling on social relationships, such as with the opposite gender, helped in academic concentration was very effective, 90 (29.0%) of students agreed that the statement was effective, 38 (12.3%) of students agreed that the statement was neutral, while 19 (6.1%) of students agreed the statement was less effective and 56 (18.1%) of students agreed the statement was not effective. The study findings showed that the majority (75.8%) of students in public day secondary schools in Nyahururu Sub-County believed that provision of guidance and counseling on social relationships such as with the opposite gender helped in academic concentration which improved performance. This implied that helping students to deal with challenges caused by relationships with the opposite gender prevented students from misdirecting their energy to the wrong activities. This means that students are encouraged to choose to concentrate on learning as the right thing. The results are supported by Krishnan (2015) who observed that the effectiveness of guidance and counseling programme ensures that students are enabled to deal with psychological problems they may experience and make rational decisions on how to solve or cope with academic challenges and thus are helped in academic concentration.
Students 159 (52.0%) agreed with the statement that effective guidance and counseling in dealing with challenges in academic performance was very effective, 70 (22.9%) of students agreed that the statement was effective, 28 (9.2%) of students agreed that the statement was neutral, while 18 (5.9%) of students agreed the statement was less effective and 31 (10.1%) of students agreed the statement was not effective. The results of this study clearly indicated that the majority (84.1%) of students in public day secondary schools in Nyahururu Sub-County agreed with the statement that effective guidance and counseling helped students in dealing with challenges in academic performance which encouraged students to learn and realize their goals. This outcome indicated that when students frequently do not achieve desirable results in academic performance, it becomes a discouraging situation whose embarrassment leads students to drop out of school. This implies that when guidance is given to students on how to improve in academic performance, it encourages them to like learning. These findings are in agreement with Oviogbodu (2015) who said that counselling is a procedural process that assists an individual to solve his/her problems. This supports the reason why school counselors are encouraged to carefully design and deliver strategic interventions aimed at increasing academic achievement with all students (Brown & Trusty, 2005). Such interventions guide students on how to solve their academic achievement weaknesses and aim to improve.
Students 196 (62.6%) agreed with the statement that effective guidance and counseling educating on learning about future career selection encouraged persistence was very effective, 47 (15.0%) of students agreed that the statement was effective, 21 (6.7%) of students agreed that the statement was neutral, while 12 (3.8%) of students agreed that the statement was less effective and 37 (11.8%) of students agreed the statement was not effective. The findings of this study with no doubt pointed out that the majority (84.3%) of students felt that effective guidance and counseling educating on learning about future career selection encouraged persistence among students in public day secondary schools in Nyahururu Sub-County. These findings agreed with Ondima et al., (2013) who posited that students perceived guidance and counseling programme as being effective in enhancing their personal, career and academic competencies and therefore encouraged persistence in learning. This means that helping students to understand the person they would aspire to become in future motivates the desire to learn and be a likeable personality. It is therefore in order to conclude that effective guidance and counseling on students' careers enlightens and educates students to remain resilient in learning till completion of studies.
Secondly, the guidance and counseling teachers' responses on the effectiveness of guidance and counseling programme in enhancing students' retention were summarized in Table 6. Students seeking guidance and counseling services to deal with social issues enhance students' retention 0 0 0 0 1 16.7 5 83.3 0 0 Students seeking guidance and counseling services to solve academic performance issues enhance students' retention 0 0 2 33.3 0 0 4 66.7 0 0 Table 6 shows that Teachers 3 (50%) agreed with the statement that students seeking guidance and counseling services for personal life issues enhanced remaining in the school of students till completion was effective, 2 (33.3%) of teachers agreed that the statement was very effective and 1 (16.7%) agreed the statement was neutral. The study findings showed that all (100%) of guidance and counseling teachers agreed that students seeking guidance and counseling services for personal life issues enhanced remaining in the school of students till completion in public day secondary schools in Nyahururu Sub-County. This implied that guidance and counseling services helped students to deal with personal life issues like drug and substance use. This means that being guided on how to avoid the temptation of indulging in taking drugs made students live more competently in school and/or with a commitment to learning till completion. This finding was in agreement with Egbo (2013) who observed that guidance and counseling programmes help an individual learn and understand and be in a position to choose the right type of behaviors that help them to develop, grow, progress, ascend, mature and step up, educationally and vocationally and become acceptable both in and outside the school. Guiding and counseling students against drug-taking bring up mature learners who become responsible members of society after completing school. Teachers 5 (83.3%) agreed with the statement that students seeking guidance and counseling services to deal with social issues enhanced retention was effective and 1 (16.7%) agreed that the statement was neutral. This finding showed that all (100%) of guidance and counseling teachers agreed that students seeking guidance and counseling services to deal with social issues enhanced retention of students in public day secondary schools in Nyahururu Sub-County. This indicated that availing guidance and counseling services to help students deal with relationship challenges that trigger emotions that defocus them from learning enhances motivation to learn. This implies that students were enabled to deal with psychological problems they could have experienced according to (Krishnan, 2015). Therefore, guidance and counseling programme helped students through social issues and thus encouraged them to learn.
Teachers 4 (66.7%) agreed with the statement that students seeking guidance and counseling services to solve academic performance issues enhanced retention was effective and 2 (33.3%) of teachers agreed that the statement was less effective. The responses showed that the majority (66.7%) of guidance and counseling teachers agreed that students seeking guidance and counseling services to solve academic performance issues positively influenced academic achievement in public day secondary schools in Nyahururu Sub-County. It was, therefore, reasonable to conclude that the counseling teacher guiding students on how to solve academic performance issues deters many from leaving school. This means that when students understand how to improve poor academic performance, then they are encouraged to learn. This finding is also in agreement with Ondima et al., (2013) who posited that students perceived guidance and counseling programme as being effective in enhancing their personal, career and academic competencies thus solving academic challenges that force students to drop out of school.

Summary of the Findings
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of guidance and counselling programme in enhancing students' retention in Nyahururu Sub-County, Laikipia County. The objectives of this study were investigated using quantitative data collected using questionnaires while qualitative data was collected using an in-depth interview schedule. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics. The analysed data brought out the following findings.

Effectiveness of Guidance and Counselling Programme in Enhancing Students' Retention
The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of guidance and counselling programme in enhancing students' retention in Nyahururu Sub-County, Laikipia County, Kenya. The findings showed that the majority 267 (85.1%) of student respondents agreed that, effective use of guidance and counseling services was effective in enhancing retention. The findings revealed that the majority 235 (76.1%) of student respondents agreed that effective help from the guidance and counseling teacher on personal life encouraged students to learn. The findings showed that the majority 243 (77.6%) of students agreed that availability of guidance and counseling whenever faced with challenges from home like lack of financial support helped students to be retained in school. The findings revealed that the majority 235 (75.8%) of students agreed that provision of guidance and counseling on social relationships like those with the opposite gender helped in academic concentration. The findings brought out that the majority 252 (84.1%) of students agreed that effective guidance and counseling helped in dealing with challenges in academic performance. The findings revealed that the majority 264 (84.3%) of students agreed that effective guidance and counseling helping in learning about future career selection encouraged students to persist in learning. These findings, therefore, implied that effective use of guidance and counseling services actually did enhance retention of students in public day secondary schools in Nyahururu Sub-County, Laikipia County. The findings showed that the majority 6 (100%) of guidance and counseling teachers agreed that students' understanding of the importance of guidance and counseling inspired students to persist in learning. The majority 6 (100%) of guidance and counseling teachers agreed that students seeking guidance and counseling services for personal life issues enhanced remaining in school till completion. The majority 6 (100%) of guidance and counseling teachers agreed that students seeking guidance and counseling services to deal with social relationships encouraged focus among students. The majority 4 (66.7%) of guidance and counseling teachers agreed that students seeking guidance and counseling services to solve academic performance issues intervened in academic challenges that forced students to drop out of school. The majority 6 (100%) of guidance and counseling teachers agreed that students used guidance and counseling services concerning career selection which helped students define their careers and thus got focused to learn. The majority 6 (100%) of guidance and counseling teachers agreed that students utilizing guidance and counseling programme services motivated students to continue learning. This was also supported by principals who agreeably brought out that, services provided to the students by the guidance and counseling programme was effective in helping students to continue learning in Nyahururu Sub-County, Laikipia County.

Conclusion of the Study
The following conclusion was made from the findings of this research study: based on the objective of the study, it was concluded that the effectiveness of guidance and counseling programme enhanced students' retention. Retention was affected by the availability of guidance and counseling programme in Nyahururu Sub-County public day secondary schools.

Recommendation of the Study
The study came up with the following recommendations: 1) The effectiveness of guidance and counseling services to students' resilience in public day secondary schools should be increasingly advocated for in order to realize higher percentages in retention.
2) The Ministry of education, the Teachers Service Commission and public day secondary schools' administration should ensure adequate provision of means and ways of empowering the teacher counsellor for quality services to students. 3) Financial support should be increased to the programme so that resources like a room and furniture, reading materials and sponsorship to workshops and seminars can be made possible. 4) Boys' and girls' students should be encouraged to embrace guidance and counseling services whenever faced with challenges so as to benefit from the programme in the course of being a student, especially in public day schools.