CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Oraegbunam (2008) opined that since the secondary school children are in their formative years they need mostly developmental and preventive counselling rather than remedial. This point to the fact that there is need for a redress in the secondary education in Nigeria. Moreover, there is no doubt that early experiences have lasting effect on adult personality hence the need to guide and counsel them young. For counsellors to be effective in the primary schools adequate facilities are needed such as psychological tests that are culturally oriented. Probably these lacks of counselling facilities expose them to being unimportant before the teachers.
Guidance and Counselling are two closely interrelated concepts and each determines the availability and efficient of the other. According to Makinde (2010) and Patterson (2012), “guidance” refers to a abroad area of all educational activities and services aimed at assisting individual students to understand themselves and adjust to school life. In Nigeria, the Ministry of Education (1977) considers guidance as a continuing process concerned with determining and providing for the developmental needs of „learners‟. Mutie and Ndambuki (2005) defines “counselling” as a learning-oriented process which usually occurs in an interactive relationship with the aim of helping the client learn more about him/herself. Guidance and counselling is therefore aimed at bringing about maximum development and self-realization of human potential for the benefit of the individual and the society. Eze (2006) defined counselling as a helping relationship in which the counsellor assists the client to better understand himself and the world. Tambawal (2007) stated that counselling is concerned with the feelings, attitudes and emotional dispositions of an individual about himself and situations facing him. Counseling practice is mainly concerned with the ways of assisting the individuals to understand himself and the world around him, be able to utilize his potential to the fullest and live a normal and well-adjusted life. Counselling in primary schools is in three dimensions namely resolution of problems, prevention of problems and growth counselling which is available to every child so as to enable him develop the hidden potentials and capabilities. However, there are some challenges facing the practice of counselling in primary schools which Oraegbunam (2008) listed as counselling-client ratio, non-recognition of counsellors by the headmasters, absence of counselling in the timetable. For Okere (2005), it is incompetence in handling pupils problems; Ifelunni (2005), dual job and lack of authority for execution of programmes; Nwokolo (2006), not giving free hand to organize guidance services and Akinade (2009), lack of proper knowledge in interpretation of psychological test. Guidance and counselling is described as an enlightened process whereby people help people by facilitating growth and positive adjustment through self-understanding. (Kolo 2001). Akinade (2012) defines guidance and counselling as a process of helping an individual become fully aware of himself and the ways in which he is responding to the influences of his environment. It further assists him to establish some personal meaning for this behaviour and to develop and classify a set of goals and values for future behaviour. Corey (1988) regards counselling as a process which occurs in one to one relationship between an individual troubled by problems with which he cannot cope with and a professional worker whose training and experiences have qualified him to help others reach solution to personal needs. Okoye (1990) viewed counseling as an interactional relationship designed to facilitate the personal development of information leading to effective decision making and awareness of the self. Counselling is a learning process in which a counsellor helps an individual or individuals learn, understand themselves and their environment and be in a position to choose the right type of behaviours that will help them develop, grow, progress, ascend, mature and step up, educationally, vocationally and socio personally. (Egbo,2013).In other words, counselling is a transformative process of helping people to learn all that are to be learnt both in and outside the School. Abolade (2000) describes teaching as a set of activities that are designed to bring about changes in the behaviour of learners. Bamgbaiye (2005) sees teaching as explaining, demonstrating, guiding and counselling by the teacher in order to effect a change in the learner. Okoye (2010) stated that the main aim of teaching is to help someone acquire or change some skills, attitude, knowledge, idea or appreciation. In other words, it is to bring about some desirable changes in the learners, she also noted that teaching is said to be effective only when the learners have been able to achieve the set behavioural objectives. Nnabuike, (2012) believes that a teacher is also a learner because there is no end to learning. Okoye (2010), views learning as the mental activity by which knowledge and skills, habits and attitudes, virtues and ideas are acquired, retained and utilized resulting in the progressive adoption and modification of conduct and behaviour. Idowu (1989) sees learning as the acquisition of new behaviour or a change in behaviour whether positive or negative change. It also includes acquisition of knowledge, information, skills and cultures. He therefore noted that learning definitely will lead to change in one’s thought, patterns and feeling. Learning also involves cognitive process especially mental reasoning. Thus teaching and learning go together; it is like buying and selling. If nobody learns it follows that nobody teaches. Nnabuike (2012) noted that the work of the teacher is to help students to learn through deliberate and conscious manipulation of information, knowledge, skill, values, attitudes and habits of the learners in order to bring about learning, leading to desirable changes in character. Based on the above, no effective teaching could be said to have taken place if learning has not occurred. In most schools in Nigeria, most teachers are cheating instead of teaching. Some do not know the methods for teaching and so do not make any positive impact (teaching and learning); some abandon the teaching job for which they are being paid, to engage in petty trading, farming and even contract. (Odo, 2007).He noted that majority do not conduct research to get more knowledge for effective, efficient and qualitative teaching and for upgrading of knowledge and ideas. He noted that some teachers do not care about the students under their care.
Kolo (2001) however, pointed out that teaching is a difficult task and therefore not every teaching that brings about pupils learning. He noted that you can take a horse to the stream but you cannot force it to drink water. In a sense, it is possible that one could put in his best effort to teach and yet some pupils fail to learn. This is where counseling comes in for there are pupils who find it difficult to learn due to some learning problems. Some do not understand why they are in school, what is expected of them and how to handle some of their problems. Guidance is a programme of service to individual students based on the need of each student, in understanding of his immediate environmental factors and the influences of such factors on the individual. It is designed to help each pupil adjust to his environment, develop the ability to set realistic goals for him and to improve his total educational programmes while in school and post school life.
Statement of the Problem
One cannot overemphasize the need for secondary school guidance and counseling in Nigeria including Nsukka in Enugu State, because it is a psychological truism that assistance given to children early in life helps to ameliorate and offer some compromises in an effort to serious development and behavioral problems later in life. Academic performance of secondary schools in Nsukka local government area of Enugu State has been declining over time. This has a negative reflection on the various programmes put in place to promote academic performance in the area. The main concern was the role of guidance and counselling programme in improving the self-image of the students and facilitating better achievement in academic performance. Little information was available on the extent to which guidance and counselling programme has been used to assist in raising the academic performance of secondary school students. This study sought to provide some insights into these factors that have retarded the services of guidance and counselors in solving problems related to academic development in Nigeria
Cases of juvenile delinquency, drug and sexual abuse, disobedience to school rules and regulations lateness, use of abusive words among others are all reported dimensions of primary school children’s problems which raise a lot of concern to counsellors, parents and other stake holders. The resultant effect of this negative trend is evident in school dropout, low academic achievement, and emotional and mental distress maladaptive behavior. The Government realized that if the problem is not checked, it will malign the very fabric of Nigeria developmental efforts. This is why Government on the goals of Secondary Education included counselling as one of the educational services (Federal Policy on Education, 2004:15). This study is imperative because despite the provision made for Secondary school counselling, the professional counsellors are facing a lot of challenges which this paper seeks to address and proffer a way forward. It is against this background that the researchers were motivated to empirically find out the factors militating against guidance and counseling services in secondary schools in Nsukka Local Government area of Enugu State.
Objectives of the Study
The study aimed at achieving the following specific objectives:
(i) To establish effectiveness of guidance and counselling programme in secondary schools.
(ii) To determine the professional qualifications of the teacher counsellors handling guidance and counselling programme in schools.
(iii) To identify the role of school administration and other teachers in enhancing guidance and counselling programme.
(iv) To determine the attitude of students towards educational/career counselling in their schools.
(v) To examine academic performance among secondary school students.
(vi) To establish the relationship between the level of effectiveness of guidance and counselling and academic performance of secondary school students.
(vii) To identify the challenges facing guidance and counselling programme.
Purpose of the Study
This study sought to assess the factors militating against guidance and counseling services in secondary schools in Nsukka Local government area of Enugu State
Significance of the Study
Guidance and counseling services in Nigeria secondary schools are faced with challenges that if not well handled affect the academic achievement of the students. Detailed studies are needed to evaluate the factors militating against guidance and counseling services in Secondary schools in Nsukka Local government area of Enugu State. This study was based on the premise that it is important to understand the extent to which the programme is used in addressing challenges facing students in schools. Such a study helps in providing useful information that could be useful in redesigning and giving impetus to the programme by those concerned including the Ministry of Education, administrators of the institutions, teacher counsellors and students so as to boost the academic performance and overall self-actualization of secondary school students. The teacher counsellor will use this study to evaluate the impact that guidance and counselling will have on academic performance in their respective schools. The Ministry of Education will also use this study in evaluating whether guidance and counselling programme is an effective measure in addressing the challenges facing secondary school students in the country. The study will also assists school administrators in assessing their contribution to guidance and counselling programme and its influence on academic performance of students in their schools. When guidance and counselling programme is well conceptualized by the Ministry of Education and implemented by the teacher counsellor with the support of the school administrators, the students will benefit by improving their academic achievements and self-actualization.
The Scope of the Study
The study is limited to the factors militating against guidance and counseling services in secondary schools in Nsukka local government area of Enugu State. Nsukka local government area of Enugu state was chosen as a research site due to the available evidence of poor academic performance among students in Federal examinations (PPSMB, Nsukk Zone, 2005). Only guidance and counseling teachers were used since they know better what affect them in their field of service.
Research Questions
The study addressed the following research questions:
(i) What is the effectiveness of guidance and counselling programme in secondary schools?
(ii) What are the professional qualifications of the teacher counsellors handling guidance and counselling programme in schools?
(iii) What the role of the school administration and other teachers in enhancing guidance and counselling programme?
(iv) What is the attitude of students towards educational/career counselling in their schools?
(v) What is the academic performance among secondary school students?
(vi) Is there any relationship between the level of effectiveness of guidance and counselling and academic performance of secondary school students?
(vii) What are the challenges facing guidance and counselling programme in schools?
Definition of Terms
In this section, operational definitions are presented as used within the context of this study.
Academic performance: This refers to the academic achievement of a student which is Usually measured in terms of grades or marks attained in a test.
Counselling: Involves helping an individual to deal with or remove frustrations and obstacles that interfere with their lives and develop his most acceptable self by thinking through the situation him/herself in an accepting atmosphere.
Effective counselling: Producing a desired result. In this case, effectiveness refers to the Ability/capacity of guidance and counselling programme to offer its required services in a school. In this study, the effectiveness of guidance and counselling will be measured on a likert scale by examining the extent to which the programme is able to offer various components of academic/career/educational counselling in schools.
Guidance: A process of helping learners to develop self understanding, capabilities for making realistic career decisions, overcome personality deficits and make optimal academic progress.
Guidance and counselling: Includes all services that help an individual understanding of him/herself, his/her attitude, interests, abilities, physical, mental and social maturity for optimum development.
Teacher Counsellor: A school teacher who has undergone formal training in guidance And counselling including theory and practice.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter reviews literature on guidance and counselling services in secondary schools. The review discusses the genesis of guidance and counselling, the role of guidance and counselling in secondary schools, effective guidance and counselling programme in secondary schools, causes of poor academic performance in secondary schools, major counseling services in schools, and Problems facing the effective guidance and counseling services
The chapter also outlines the theoretical and conceptual frameworks to be used in guiding this study.
Genesis of Guidance and Counselling
TO GET THE FULL PROJECT , PROCEED TO PAY:
#5000
TO ACCOUNT NO: 6171742627
BANK: FIDELITY
FOR BARGAINING OR FURTHER ENQUIRIES CALL OR WHASTAP +23407064532617