Assessment of Pastoral Care Programmes in Holistic Development of Secondary School Students in Nyeri County, Kenya

Abstract

The call to develop holistic students who display aspects of moral uprightness, resilience, emotional, spiritual, social and ethical competence, problem-solving skills and autonomy in the contemporary learning institutions have been on the rise. This is from the rising cases of religious radicalizations, unhealthy social networking, uncontrollable drugs and substance abuse among young people, early teenage pregnancies among girls that affect their smooth learning process, among others. To control the effects of the latter contemporary challenges, Nyeri County secondary schools have into place complementary Christian pastoral care and counseling programmes whose aim is to help in addressing the students’ pathologies alongside ensuring holistic development of students. However, the programmes’ effectiveness to develop holistic students have been on the question. This paper assess the effectiveness of Christian pastoral care and counseling programmes in developing holistic secondary school students in Nyeri County, Kenya. The findings from the study confirmed the commitment of the programmes in promoting character formation through instilling Christian values that facilitates social, moral and spiritual competence of students. However, the programmes’ effectivenss have been undermined by various challenges that range from social-cultural, financial, and non-cooperation from the relevant stakeholders. The paper therefore recommends that the programmes need full support from all stakeholders if they are to achieve their intended objectives.