| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study was to investigate teacher's assessment of the effects of drug
abuse on KCSE performance in public day secondary schools in Kikuyu district. Five
research questions were formulated to guide the study. The study employed descriptive
survey design. The sample consisted of 18 head teachers, 18 deputy head teachers and
18 teacher counselors. Data was collected by use of questionnaires which were
structured and unstructured. The findings revealed that students were involved in drug
taking and abuse. Commonly abused drugs included bhang, cigarettes and alcohol.
It also revealed that teachers experience and training were significant on assessing the
effects of drugs on students' academic performance. The study revealed that drug abuse
affected students' performance. It also revealed that schools used several means of
curbing drug abuse such as guidance and counseling, expulsion and rehabilitation among
other forms. The findings also revealed that there were problems encountered in curbing
the problem of drugs in schools which included resistant from the abusers, pressure from
the peers and even hostility from teachers. Based on the findings it was concluded that
drug abuse was rife in the schools and students were involved in drug taking and abuse.
The most commonly abused drugs included bhang, cigarettes and alcohol. It was also
concluded that teachers experience and training were significant on assessing the effects
of drugs on students' academic performance. It was also concluded that drug abuse
adversely affected students' academic performance. It was also concluded that school
administration used guidance and counselling, expulsion and rehabilitation were the
commonly used ways of handling the problem of drug abuse in schools.
Based on the findings it was recommended that there is need for enhancing guidance and
counseling in schools so that cases of drugs could be minimized. It was also
recommended that that both parents and teachers should be on the look out for cases of
drugs both in school and at home respectively. The teachers should break up social
groups in the schools while parents should report cases of drugs at home to the relevant
authorities. The study lastly recommended that there should be campaigns on drug abuse
awareness and symposiums on the negative effects of drugs in schools.
Taking the limitations and delimitations of the study, the researcher suggested that there
is need to conduct a research on effects of guidance and counselling on improvement of
students' academic performance. There is need to conduct a research to investigate
whether teachers qualifications and training have any influence on students'
performance. There is a need to conduct a research to establish if there is a relationship
between head teachers' training and experience and drug abuse in schools. | en |
