Challenges Faced by Teachers in the Implementation of Guidance and Counselling in Eswatini Primary Schools

Providing guidance and counselling in schools is one of the most important services a school has to have and it is the reason why the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) introduced guidance and counselling in both primary and high schools of Eswatini. However, there are obstacles that affect the effective implementation of guidance and counselling in schools. Thus, there was a need to find out the challenges teachers face in the implementation of guidance and counselling in Eswatini primary schools. The study was a qualitative study and it employed a multiple case study design. There were 27 participants from the Shiselweni guidance and counselling pilot schools who were selected purposively. Data were collected through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. A thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. The main findings of the study revealed that guidance and counselling is affected by role ambiguity for guidance and counselling teachers, lack of required resources and inadequate supervision. Therefore, there is a great need for the Ministry of Education and Training to develop clear policies for running and managing guidance and counselling services in schools. Keywords : challenges, guidance and counselling, implementation, Primary school, Shiselweni, DOI : 10.7176/JEP/10-12-21 Publication date : April 30 th 2019