Abstract:
The study aimed to evaluate the influence of principals' goal-setting activities in curbing drug and
substance abuse and its influence on national examination performance in secondary schools in Mwea
West Sub-County, Kirinyaga County. A descriptive research design was employed, and a total of 405
subjects comprising students, school principals, and guiding and counseling teachers, as well as the
Quality and Standards Officers were selected using stratified sampling. Data was collected using a
structured questionnaire, which was analyzed in SPSS version 25. The regression analysis revealed
that principals' activities linked to the conduction of goals, information gathering and analysis,
intervention methods, and appraisal methods accounted for 54.4% of the variation in the capture of
drug and substance abuse as well as its effect on students' performance in national exams. The
dependent variable was significantly (p = 0.016) regressed on the predictor variables, which represents
at least one of the predictor variables affecting the response variable. With the coefficient, it was
apparent that the principal's setting goals, accuracy in information, interventional approaches, and
appraisal methods correlated with the decline in the extent of drug and substance abuse and its
contribution to the poor scores in the national examination. Among these, information collection and
analysis showed the highest correlation (standardized coefficient = 0.497), which was followed by the
principals' goal-setting activities (0.316); thereby, intervention methods (0.181) and appraisal methods
(0.200) ranked fifth and fourth, respectively. Based on these results, the following was suggested:
undertake training for principals, organize workshops for seminars, implement the drug program, and
improve guidance and counseling services in schools to adequately prevent drug abuse.
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