TEACHERS’ VIEWS ON THE ROLES OF GUIDANCE COUNSELING IN NIGERIAN SECONDARY SCHOOLS
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Secondary school guidance and counseling is getting a new lease on life. The educational purpose of Nigeria has expanded to include guidance and counselling services at primary, secondary, and higher education institutions. Junior secondary school in Nigeria begins after completing the sixth grade, or primary six (Erford, 2011). A child will be eligible to take the junior high school certificate test after three years of classroom instruction. Students will be enrolled in SSS I after successfully completing JSS III. The majority of students who begin junior secondary school are early adolescents who have successfully transitioned from the first six grades. The transition from childhood to adolescence is a trying time for the growing child. Examine our culture right now; The adolescent age group is the most vulnerable. Dropouts form antisocial groups and engage in a variety of criminal activities across the country. Secondary schools have become a haven for antisocial organizations (Eremie, 2006). These children not only join dangerous antisocial organizations, but they also use hard and illegal narcotics (Effiong, 2005). Peer pressure has a significant impact on them, leading to juvenile delinquency across the country. Some of these students drop out due to a lack of effective guidance and counseling services in the school system. We can’t stand by and watch our students rot on the streets and in jails, whether they’re on trial or already incarcerated. These children must be reclaimed through competent guidance and intervention. Counseling in junior and senior secondary schools (Neukrug, 2011). In response to these demands, the Federal Ministry of Education has outlined goals for guidance and counseling in the Blue Print for Nigerian educational institutions. The identification of such demands by the Federal Ministry of Education, if carried out properly by school guidance counsellors, will assist students in focusing their attention on their academic work. Guidance was the father of counselling as it was practiced during the time of Frank Parson. The focus of guidance in the days of Frank Parsons was on assisting individuals in making decisions about classroom educational activities as well as preparing them to pursue a specific career or occupation. A guidance counsellor’s job is to assist students in making decisions about which courses to take. What courses to take and how to schedule them in a school setting. Counselling, on the other hand, is the process by which a person (counselee) enters into a beneficial relationship with a professionally certified counsellor in order to help the counselee make choices and decisions that lead to desired development and progress in their lives. Guidance and counselling services are viewed differently by secondary school students and teachers (Lawson, 2004). These beliefs influence whether or not they seek guidance and counselling. Their opinions influence their behavior, academic achievement, and daily life. The persistence of indiscipline and numerous social ills in Nigerian secondary schools, such as drug and substance abuse, strikes, and teenage pregnancies, in addition to low academic achievement National test results indicate that secondary school students do not seek guidance and counselling services (Edith, 2000). As people progress through life stages and educational attainment, they encounter issues, obstacles, and conflict situations. These people must also develop value systems, make decisions, and set and achieve goals. All of this is impossible to achieve without developing self-awareness and decision-making skills, both of which are not natural but must be learned. Individuals/students must be exposed to guidance and counselling services in order to address these issues while also encouraging academic achievement and a healthy lifestyle. Although several authors have attempted to define the terms separately, guidance and counselling are frequently used interchangeably to focus on assisting individuals in gaining self-awareness and direction. While Ezeji (2001) defines direction as assistance in making decisions, making changes, and solving problems, Denga (2001) defines guidance as a collection of formalized educational services provided by the school to assist students in gaining self-knowledge or self-understanding, which is required for full self-development and self-realization of their potential. According to Okeke (2003), counselling is a collaborative relationship between a counsellor and a client in which the counsellor uses his professional knowledge and skills to assist the client in achieving proper development and maturity, improved functioning, and the ability to cope with life’s challenges. Counselling, according to Eze (2012), is an inter-personal relationship between a professionally trained individual (counselor) and a troubled individual (counselee) or individuals (counselees) in which the former employs his professional skills. to assist the latter in resolving his educational, vocational, and personal social problems. Guidance and counselling, according to Bark (2003), are services provided by skilled and trained individuals to assist an individual of any age in managing his or her own daily activities, developing his or her own points of view, making his or her own decisions, and bearing his or her own burden. According to the aforementioned definitions, the researcher regards counselling as a process in which a person (counselor) uses professional abilities to assist another (client) in a person-to-person connection in order to achieve optimal growth and functioning. Because no one is without difficulties or problems, general life problems encompass all aspects of a person’s life. Personal, social, educational, and occupational issues, to name a few. Guidance and counselling are thus intended to assist people/students with their many difficulties and worries, so that they grow up to be well-adjusted individuals capable of not only leading productive lives, but also contributing to the development of their community. According to Gibson (2008), guidance and counselling services prepare students to take more responsibility for their decisions and to improve their ability to understand and accept the consequences of their decisions. School guidance and counseling are intended to address the needs and concerns of students and learners at various stages of academic or educational development. According to Braddock (2001), the goal of school guidance and counselling is to promote academic success. achievement, create good study attitudes and habits, boost conflict resolution skill acquisition and application, and reduce school dropouts. The primary goal of a school’s guidance and counselling department is to provide students with a variety of personnel services. Denga (2001) defines these services as a “cluster of institutionalized educational services established by the school to assist students in achieving self-knowledge or self-understanding, which is required for them to achieve the greatest self-development and self-realization of their potential.” Some of the services available include student assessment, information service, counseling service, placement service, orientation service, referral service, follow-up and evaluation service, and research service (Jude, 2003). The use of tests and non-test instruments to collect, analyze, and interpret data about students in a classroom setting. Part of the appraisal service is to help people better understand themselves. It also provides access to information about a student’s strengths and limitations to counsellors and significant others. The information service is intended to provide students with the necessary information in the areas of education, occupational training, and personal and social development. These particulars are critical because they enable students to make well-informed decisions about their lives. Counselling is a face-to-face interaction between a counsellor and a student in which the counsellor helps the student overcome obstacles to academic, occupational, personal-social, and other life requirements. A placement service’s goal is to assist students in transitioning to the next stage of their development, whether in school or on the job (Jiga, 2001). The The orientation service’s purpose is to familiarize new students with their surroundings. It is the process of introducing an individual to a work or learning scenario and informing him about the rules, regulations, and duties (Darmian, 2008). School counselors can use referral services to refer cases that they are unable to handle to experts such as clinical psychologists, medical practitioners, and others. The purpose of the follow-up and assessment service is to determine whether the school’s previous guidance program is meeting its goals, as well as to track students’ development at their workplaces. The school counselor can use the research service to find appropriate material to help them improve their students’ learning.
comprehension. As a continuous process, professional counsellors should accept and support the service. These services should be provided to all children from kindergarten through post-high school experiences, and they should be at the heart of any guidance program (Erford, 2010).
1.2 THE PROBLEM’S STATEMENT
The Nigerian federal government mandated that all states include guidance and counselling services in their school curricula in its National Policy on Education (2004). Nonetheless, the government’s slowness in implementing this critical education program is discouraging. This is evidenced by the fact that only 70 of a state’s 300 public secondary schools are required to have professional guidance counselors. This has had a consistent impact on the academic achievement of children. It’s
It comes as no surprise that overall performance in the West African Examination Council (WAEC) external Examination has been poor over the years, as has the rate of student transfer to postsecondary institutions. This piqued the researcher’s interest in learning more about the perspectives of secondary school teachers on guidance and counselling.
1.3 THE STUDY’S OBJECTIVE
The primary goal of this research is to learn about teachers’ perspectives on the role of guidance counseling. The study’s specific goals are as follows:
i. Determine whether or not Sokoto state secondary schools provide guidance and counselling services.
ii. Determine the effects of guidance and counseling services on students’ academic performance.
iii. Determine the roles of guidance and counselling services in the transition rates of Sokoto State students to postsecondary institutions.
iv. Calculate the proportion of male and female students enrolled in tertiary institutions.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRES
i. Do Sokoto state secondary schools provide guidance and counselling?
ii. How do guidance and counselling services affect students’ academic achievement?
iii. What are the roles of guidance and counselling services in the transition rates of Sokoto State students to postsecondary institutions?
iv. What is the gender breakdown of students enrolled in tertiary institutions?
1.5 THE STUDY’S IMPORTANCE
The study would benefit researchers because it would provide more information on teachers’ perspectives on the functions of guidance and counseling in Nigerian secondary schools.
1.6 STUDY OBJECTIVES
Because of financial and time constraints, this study only includes perspectives on the functions.
Nigerian secondary schools provide guidance and counselling. Isa local government area in Sokoto state provided samples. A few secondary schools were also used.
1.7 THE STUDY’S LIMITATION
Due to time constraints and a lack of funds, the research was limited to a single local government region.
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