AN ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING SERVICESON STUDENTDEVELOPMENT
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of guidance and counseling services on student development. The study was carried out among secondary school students in Enugu North Local Government Area of Enugu State. The research study was also aimed at ascertaining whether the career guidance services are not adequate in the selected secondary schools. In carrying out the study, a questionnaire designed by the researcher was used to collect information from one hundred (145) respondents comprising students and teachers in the selected schools. The data collected from the students were analyzed and interpreted.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Counseling as the third force in education along with instruction is an integral part of the educational system. Counseling programs for secondary school students are designed to address the physical, emotional, social, vocational, and academic difficulties of adolescent students. This is to complement learning in the classroom and also enhance the academic performance/achievement of students. Counseling plays a vital role in preventing educational, personal, social, mental emotional, and other similar problems among secondary school students. Counseling according to Akpon (2010) is “an educational service that seeks to provide the school child opportunity to obtain holistic education development that prepares him for functional life.” Ipaye (2000) sees counseling from an educational perspective as those experiences that help pupils to understand themselves, accept themselves, and live effectively in their society. Esen (2008) says that counseling is aimed primarily at assisting the receiver to discover his hidden strengths and ultimately grow in independence. According to Akinade (2012), guidance and counseling refer to how one is being assisted to become much more aware of his/herself and how he/she is reacting to what impacts his/her life. Guidance and counseling is a procedure that has been operating for a longer period and has been inherited from one generation to another In Africa, Guidance & Counselling program was established to assist learners to overcome challenges they went through while at school. For instance, in Botswana, peer counseling was essential for teenagers as it allowed students to talk about the challenges and limitations of their parents, administrators, prefects, and teachers in a very free environment (UNESCO, 2002).
According to Okobrah and Okorodudu (2006), counseling is encompassed by activities of relevant services and also processes of helping persons within and outside the school, to achieve their full potential in their emotional, moral, social, academic, and vocational developments. In this paper, the focus is on the achievement of full academic potential through the proper utilization of the services of counseling programs in secondary schools. Amadi (2004) remarks that through guidance and counseling services the school will understand the needs of individual students and what can be done for individual improvement. Olayinka (2009) says that academic counseling is assisting students to make the most appropriate use of their educational opportunities. Also, Egbule (2006) defines educational counseling as assistance given to pupils and students that enable them to function well in school. He continues by saying that it assists them in understanding themselves and how their potential could be developed with these definitions, education counseling for adolescents is sin-qua-non if they must achieve maximally.
Nwakpa (2015) opined that it is essential that there should be an organized program for the diagnosis of needs and counseling of students, an orientation program based on principles of effective communication, remedial assistance, and professional guidance for both physical well-being and mental health. According to Dirk (2014), the objectives of personnel administration include the utilization of human resources effectively, the establishment and maintenance of productive and self-respecting working relationships among the participants, and the attainment of maximum individual development of members in the organization. The general objectives of student personnel administration involve all the activities that are rendered to the students for the achievement of educational objectives apart from the normal classroom instructions. Students’ personnel administration also refers to all the activities that are carried out by the school administrator to ensure that the students derive the best from the school’s curricular and extracurricular activities. A safe learning environment is essential for students of all ages According to Denga (2003), some of the problems found among students identified are academic problems, vocational problems, and personal, social, and psychological problems. Guidance and counseling services enable the students to understand what they are doing. Iwuama (2005) observed that for the students to realize these needs, lecturers and parents should be assisted. The average Nigerian parents want a sound education for his/her child as a means of social mobility amongst other reasons. Invariably parents of university students need guidance for their children to cope with the challenges of producing children.
Statement of the Problems.
What instigated the study on the impact of guidance and counseling services on the academic performance of study was due to high level of poor academic performance of students despite the numerous ways in which they are guided either by their teachers or parents which seems to be caused by the inability of the students to follow the laid down rules and regulations. Even though guidance and counseling programs are made available in both homes and schools, there is still a great height of indiscipline among students which contributed has influenced their academic performance.
Research Questions.
The following research questions were put forward to guide the study.
- Do secondary schools in Nigeria have adequate and qualified school guidance and counselors?
- Are the guidance and counseling facilities in secondary schools in Nigeria adequate in number and quality?
iii. What are the guidance and counseling services provided by secondary schools in Nigeria?
- What are the obstacles to effective guidance and counseling services in Nigeria?
The objective of the Study
The general objective of the study is to examine An Assessment of the effectiveness of guidance and counseling services on student development. Other objectives include:
- To examine the adequacy and quality of guidance and counseling personnel in secondary schools in Nigeria.
- To investigate the adequacy of guidance and counseling facilities in secondary schools in Nigeria.
iii. To examine the guidance and counseling services carried out in secondary schools in Nigeria.
- To find out the factors hindering effective guidance and counseling services, in Nigeria.
Significance of the Study
The study will enable the curriculum planners to also effect the necessary change by ensuring that adequate and qualified teachers are employed to teach guidance and counseling to take care of students’ vocational, academic, and social/personal problems which is the turning point of its objectives in line with the content of the course.
The result will provide administrators with useful information and insight into the impact of guidance and counseling on students’ academic achievement and their future careers. Parents will enable them to identify their weaknesses on part of failure and their responsibility to provide their wards with the necessary materials needed for successful school work and learning.
Lecturers will know the damaging effect of guidance and counseling on students’ academic achievement. Hence they will look for ways of manipulating the school environment to provide a conducive learning situation that will discourage poor performance among the students. They would exploit instructional approaches in teaching guidance in counseling with the necessary needed facilities to enhance effective teaching and learning.
The outcome of this research will help in educating and concomitantly serving as a guide to both parents and schools on the effect of guidance on the academic performance of students.
This research will also serve as a resource base for other scholars and researchers interested in carrying out further research in this field and subsequently if applied will go to an extent to provide new explanations for the topic.
Scope of the study:
The research limits the topical coverage of the study to an Assessment of the effectiveness of guidance and counseling services on student development guidance and counseling services offered within secondary schools in Nigeria. The study covered only secondary schools in Enugu North LGA.
Limitation Of Study
Financial constraint– Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing relevant materials, literature, or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire, and interview).
Time constraint– The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted to the research work
Definition Of Terms
PERFORMANCE: the accomplishment of a given task measured against preset known standards of accuracy, completeness, cost, and speed
STUDENT: a person formally engaged in learning, especially one enrolled in a school or college
GUIDANCE: the act or function of guiding, leadership, and direction.
Influence: is the power to have an important effect on someone or something
COUNSELING is the activity of the counselor or a professional who counsels people, especially on personal problems and difficulties.
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