The study sought to ascertain the impact of counseling on the academic performance of Rangwe Sub-County students. The four objectives of this study were as follows: the role of counselors in promoting academic performance in public secondary schools, students' attitudes toward counseling in public secondary schools, the challenges facing counseling in public secondary schools, and the factors influencing students' academic performance in public secondary schools. Social learning and person-centered theory underpin this. The study's participants were 25,000 students from 21 secondary schools in the Rangwe Sub-County of Homa Bay County. The researcher intends to target all students as well as 21 teacher counselors. The sample size used was 394 people. The participants were chosen using simple random sampling. Participants were given questionnaires. To analyze quantitative data, descriptive and inferential statistics are used. The data was presented in the form of frequency graphs and verbatim responses. A pilot study was carried out to validate the instruments' veracity and dependability. Frequency means and percentages were used to analyze qualitative data. Tables with explanations were used to present the findings. The data was analyzed using (SPSS) version 21 by the researcher. The study established that counseling services in school enable students to share the problems they go through for psycho-social support and this helps in promoting their performance hence leading to good performance in public secondary schools. The study performed a correlation coefficient test to quantify the strength of the linear relationship between two study variables. Counseling services had the highest positive correlation with schools’ academic performance (r= 0.512), the attitude of students towards counseling had the highest positive correlation with schools’ academic performance (r= 0.361), challenges facing counseling had a positive correlation with schools’ academic performance (r= 0.387), and other factors affecting counseling sessions had the lowest but positive correlation with schools’ academic performance (r=0.341). The study findings revealed that counseling services, the attitude of students towards counseling, challenges facing counseling, and other factors affecting counseling sessions correlate with school performance up to 45.9% (R=0.459) and account for a variation of 21.1% (R2=0.211). From the findings, this study recommends that to promote the behavior of students in seeking counseling services, there is a need for the schools to create awareness across the schools. Teachers should work towards building a good teacher-student relationship. This can help students to always open up and seek counseling services, School administration ought to work closely with the counseling teachers as well as students to identify and address all possible challenges that most cases hinder students from seeking counseling services while in school.

Keywords: Counseling, Academic Performance, Attitude, Pilot Study, Teacher-Student Relationship.

Anyamene, A., & Nwosu, G.U. (2019). Effects of assertiveness training technique on low self-concept among secondary school students in Awka education zone. American Journal of Creative Education, 2(2): 81-92.

Bandura, A. (1963). Social Learning Theory. New Jersey - Prentice Hall.

Bar, R., Larry J.E, Gill, S., & Brace, C. (2002). Counseling in schools. London - Sage Publishers Limited.

Colley, M. (2016). Teaching is leading. On Being a Teacher: Readings from Educational Leadership.

Creswell, J.W. (2003). Research designs, Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approach (2nd Edition). Thousand Oaks, CA Sage.

Durojaiye, M.O.A. (1980). A new introduction to educational psychology. Lagos: Evans Brothers.

Elman, N.S., Illfelder-Kaye, J., & Robiner, W.N. (2005). Professional Development: Training for Professionalism as a Foundation for Competent Practice in Psychology. Professional Psychology: Research & Practice, 36(4): 367.

Eyo, M.B., Joshua, A.M., & Esuong, A.E. (2010). The attitude of secondary school students towards guidance and counseling services in Cross River State. Edo Journal of Counseling, 3(1).

Feltham, C., & Dryden, W. (2006). Brief Counselling: A Practical Integrative Approach: A Practical Guide for Beginning Practitioners. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).

Kassymova, K., Kosherbayeva, N., Sangilbayev, S., & Schachl, H. (2018). Stress management techniques for students. In International Conference on the Theory and Practice of Personality Formation in Modern Society (ICTPPFMS 2018), Pages 47-56, Atlantis Press.

Kenya Institute of Education (2000). Secondary Social Education and Ethics form 1 and 2 pupils Book.

Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development (1999). (MOE and HRD).

Neman, J., Termini, J., Wilczynski, S., Vaidehi, N., Choy, C., Kowolik, C.M., & Jandial, R. (2014). Human breast cancer metastases to the brain display GABAergic properties in the neural niche. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(3): 984-989.

Nziramasanga, C.T. (1999). Report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Education and Training. Harare Government Printers.

Ochieng-Sande, B. (2013). Response to intervention: An interpretive case study of educators' perspectives on the roles of school culture, personal beliefs, and program knowledge on implementation. Doctoral dissertation, University of South Carolina.

Rogers, C. (1961). On becoming a person, a Therapist’s view of psychotherapy. London Constable.

Taylor, M. & Francis, H. (1998). School Counselors Perceptions of Guidance and Counseling Program in Malawi Secondary Schools. British Journal of Guidance and Counseling, 26(2).

Source of Funding:

This study did not receive any grant from funding agencies in the public or not-for-profit sectors.

Competing Interests Statement:

Authors have declared no competing interests.

Consent for Publication:

The authors declare that they consented to the publication of this research work.

Authors’ Contribution:

All the authors took part in data collection and manuscript writing equally.