10th U6+ Consortium of African Universities International Conference

The purpose of the study was to investigate the psychological factors contributing to the persistence of strikes in Public Boarding Secondary schools in Keiyo sub-county, Elgeyo Marakwet county, Kenya. The study was based on the Frustration-Aggression Theory by Dollard et al. (1939), which posits that aggression is always a consequence of frustration, occurring when a highly desired goal is blocked or intercepted. A mixed research design was used, and a survey was utilized. Purposive sampling was used to identify the target population, which consisted of all schools that had struck within this year, 2026, as per the records obtained from the Ministry of Education in the county. Form three and four students were used to respond to structured questionnaires. Ethical considerations were followed during the process of data collection, and data were subjected to descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS version 23. The influence on students' mental health emerges as a key factor causing strikes in secondary schools with increased stress, anxiety, and uncertainty. Results indicated that 80% of students did not receive psychological guidance and counselling services,93.5% blamed socio- cultural factors, while academic pressure and poor infrastructure and welfare were 63.7% respectively. Further analysis also indicated that there is a statistical relationship between psychological factors and strikes in the secondary schools in Keiyo Public Boarding Secondary Schools. The study concluded that the lack of psychological support for students in boarding secondary schools is the primary cause of school strikes; therefore, school guidance and counselling programmes should be effectively utilized. The study recommended further studies to be done on teacher counsellors and school administration to be able to understand why counselling departments fail to avert crises in learning institutions.