Abstract

When corporal punishment and caning as a way of disciplining students was banned in Kenya in year 2000, the Ministry of Education replaced it with Guidance and Counseling services. However, many schools lacked professional counselors to cater for the huge increase in indiscipline cases. Some schools opted to use suspensions for minor and major indiscipline. This decision did not consider the effect of student's suspension on academic work and psychosocial wellbeing of the students. This study therefore investigated the effects of student’s suspension on their academic work and their psychosocial wellbeing in boarding secondary schools in Nakuru Municipality of Nakuru County. The study was guided by two theories, Behavioral theory by Skinner and social learning by Albert. The survey search design was descriptive which was used in seven boarding secondary schools in Nakuru municipality. A purposive sample size of 145 suspended students from a total population of 3917 students from the 7 boarding schools was used, A purposive sample of two teachers, one from each of the following departments namely: the guidance and counseling department and the disciplinary committee in each of the seven boarding schools were interviewed. The data was collected using questionnaires that were administered to the students while an interview schedules was used for the teacher counselors and discipline teachers. Descriptive statistics, frequencies, percentages, and tables, were used to analysis data. From the findings, it’s an indicator that stealing of other students’ properties; disobedience/defiance and breaking of school rules and regulations are the major causes of suspension. Further, evidence revealed that students' suspension negatively affected their psychosocial wellbeing and their academic work. The findings of this study will help the educators to think of other alternative measures in correcting students’ behavior without affecting their psychosocial wellbeing and denying them their academic activities in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals which is Education All (EFA). The findings may be used as a basis for strengthening guidance and counseling services in schools. They would also be useful to the Ministry of Education in the designing of programmes and projects.