Abstract:
Death is obviously a traumatizing experience for every human being, however this loss is experienced and expressed in different ways at different developmental phases in life
Mourning for a child may not end the same way as adults whose cognitive and emotional
development is advanced so when a child loses a parent he/she may fail to adequately
mourn and later in life may often present with symptoms of depression. There has been
an overwhelming rise in the number of orphans in primary schools in Nandi East Sub -
County, Nandi County. The purpose of this study was to establish the efficacy of forms
of counseling used in public primary schools in this area in enhance emotional
adjustment among the orphaned learners in primary schools in Nandi East Sub-County
Kenya. The objectives of this study were; to establish the efficacy of peer counseling on
emotional adjustment among orphaned learners, to find out the efficacy of expert
counseling on emotional adjustment among orphaned learners, to determine the efficacy
of teacher counseling on emotional adjustment among orphaned learners and to examine
the strategies used to enhance emotional adjustment among orphaned learners. The study
was informed by Carl Rodgers’ Self-Centered Theory and Skinners’ Behavioral Theory.
The study employed sequential triangulation design within the mixed method approach.
Simple random sampling was used to select 30 primary schools and purposive sampling
was used to select 60 orphaned pupils, 30 head teachers and 30 teacher counselors drawn
from the selected public schools thus making a total sample of 120 respondents selected
from a target population of 404. Structured questionnaires were administered to the
sampled orphaned pupils. Interview schedules were used in collecting data from the head
teachers and teacher counsellors from the sampled primary school. Validity was ensured
by expert judgment of lecturers in the Department of Psychology, Jaramogi Oginga
Odinga University of Science and Technology while reliability was ensured by
Cronbach’s Alpha and a coefficient of r = 0.717 was reported. Quantitative data
collected from closed–ended questionnaires was analysed using inferential statistical
techniques with the help of SPSS version 22. Qualitative data collected from interviews
was analysed thematically. The study found out that peer counselling was very effective
in emotional adjustment among orphaned learners. There was a strong positive
correlation between peer counselling and emotional adjustment with r=0.730 which was
significant at p=0.022. This study recommended that the Ministry of Education should
enact policies regarding the provision of Guidance and Counselling services, care and
support of orphaned children in primary schools with the aim of helping them attain
appropriate emotional adjustment.
