1.1 Background Introduction 

Guidance and counselling are two closely interrelated concepts and each determines the availability and efficient of the other. According to Makinde (1984) and Patterson (1977), “guidance” refers to a abroad area of all educational activities and services aimed at assisting individual students to understand themselves and adjust to school life. In Kenya, the Ministry of Education (1977) considers guidance as a continuing process concerned with determining and providing  for  the  developmental  needs  of  „learners‟.  Mutie  and  Ndambuki  (1999)  defines “counselling” as a learning-oriented process which usually  occurs  in  an  interactive  relationship with the aim of helping the client learn more about him/herself. Guidance and counselling is therefore aimed at bringing about maximum development and self-realization of human potential for the benefit of the individual and the society. In a school, the programme assists students in harmonizing their abilities, interests and values and enables them to develop their full potential. It directs students on appropriate career and subject choices; solving discipline, education, social and psychological problems; and general adjustment to school life (Gerardo, 1996).

The development of guidance  and  counselling  originated  from  Europe  and  the  United  States of America in 1900‟s.  A  person  named  Goodwin  in  1911  organized  a  wide guidance programme in USA that catered for students. The emphasis was on vocational information, awareness of the world of work, location of employment and reduction of examination    anxiety  (Makinde,1984).  He  noted    that      since    1950‟s,    popular    views    of guidance  and  counselling  have  changed  rapidly  and  that  understanding  youth‟s  problems are among the functions of school guidance and counselling. A random sample  of  100 counsellor education programmes with evaluating the effect of counselling on students was carried out in USA. The study found out that guidance and counselling significantly influence academic performance of a student. This is an indication that most institutions  have  put emphasis on need for academic excellence and more so the intervention of guidance and counselling programmes. This development made teacher counsellors to provide guidance and counselling services at secondary schools, not only to students who are underachieving, maladjusted, but also to gifted children who do not know what to do with their abilities.

In Africa, the genesis of modern guidance and counselling is dated back to 1960s. For example, Makinde (1984) observes that the first organized formal careers guidance service for the students in Nigeria was held in Ibadan. The service resolved to expand counselling activities in the country by the end of 1970, and form a larger association to embrace career masters and counsellors. In Kenya, the genesis of formal guidance and counselling programme dates back to as early as 1960s (Kilonzo, 1984). The programme 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 (Oketch & Ngumba, 1999). It includes all services aimed at helping a student understand himself, his attitude, interests, abilities, physical, mental and social maturity for optimum development, and general adjustment to school life (Mutie & Ndambuki, 1999). The programme was later reinforced and emphasized by the 1975 National Committee on Educational Objectives and Policies (NCEOP), Government of Kenya – G.o.K. (1976, 1988, 1999, 2001).

All these commissions reinforced and emphasized on the need to reinforce and empower guidance and counselling in order for it to effectively achieve the above set objectives in schools. The Ministry of Education has directed all learning institutions in the country to establish guidance and counselling programme as a continuous sequential education process aimed at bridging the gap between one education level and another. The need to strengthen guidance and counselling has been further reinforced by the government directive to ban corporal punishment in schools (G.O.K., 2001). Gichinga (1995) observes that guidance and counselling has had impact  in the secondary school students‟ lives and noted that there is relationship  between the programme and academic performance. However, according to G.O.K., despite the ministerial directive to implement and effect guidance and counselling programme in all learning  institutions in order to uplift the academic standards of students, academic performance in most secondary schools in the country has been declining while disciplinary problems have been increasing over time.

For instance, Nakuru district has been registering poor and fluctuating academic performance over the recent years in the national Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examination (KCSE). The district with a total of 160 secondary schools registered a mean score of 4.697 in the year 2000, 4.794 in 2001, 4.747 in 2002, 5.18 in 2003 and 5.26 in 2004 out of a possible maximum of 12 points (Nakuru District Education Office, 2006). These mean scores are far below average when compared to the possible maximum points and the national averages. Bahati Division in Nakuru district has also suffered and experienced the same low levels in academic performance over the same period. For example, the division with a total of 21 schools registered a mean score of 4.678 in the year 2002, 5.125 in 2003 and 5.165 in 2004. This poor academic record necessitated the need to find out whether guidance and counselling programme had any influence on academic performance of secondary school students in Bahati division of Nakuru district.

1.2 Statement of the Problem
Academic performance of secondary schools in Bahati division of Nakuru district has been declining over time (Nakuru District Education Office, 2006). This has a negative reflection on the various programmes put in place to promote academic performance in the area. The main concern was the role of guidance and counselling programme in improving the self-image of the students and facilitating better achievement in academic performance. Little information was available on the extent to which guidance and counselling programme has been used to assist in raising the academic performance of secondary school students. This study sought to provide some insights into these issues and establish the relationship between guidance and counselling and academic performance of secondary school students.