Importance of Couseling Essay

The study was limited to single xvi unes displaceial aims thirteen government substitute(prenominal) shallows and three agency standby naturalises in Benin city with practicing school counsellor(s). In all, there were four-spot hundred and twenty respondents (420). trip out was not a factor in the study. Two four-point Likert instance scale questionnaires were utilize to obtain data for the study. These atomic number 18 Secondary School Counsellors Questionnaire (SSCQ) and Secondary School Students Questionnaire (SSSQ). The reliabilities of 0.69 and 0.80 were obtained respectively SSCQ and SSSQ employ the Cronbach of import intrinsic Consistency dependability.The findings show that there are insufficient counsellors in schools inadequate availability of counsellor facilities and that the aptitude of counsel and counselor-at-law violence has impact on the quality of direction serve they provide to alternate school students in Nigeria. These findings suggest that these variables go out help to promote students fitting in the school and the society at large. Paradoxically, the absence of these variables could precipitate students mal trying on. Recommendations on ways of improving direction and advocate go to promote students limiting were pr advanceed.Keywords steering Qualities com rush and talk over Students revision Nigeria1. Introduction steerage and Counselling happens to be iodine of the splitments in the field of Education in Nigeria. It became fashionable with the introduction of the 6-3-3-4 educational system. It is generally true that in Nigeria, the organize/ testicle counselling started in 1959 at St. Theresas College, Oke-Ado in Ibadan by somewhat Reverend Sisters, emerge of concern for the products of their school. They felt that there was take up to offer vocational counselor to their outgoing final year students. As a result, the Rev. Sisters invited twenty educated people from Ibadan community who we re in antithetical professions and then knew to a greater extent roughly the emerging world of work than the students and the Rev. Sisters. Fifty-four out of the sixty students benefited from the experts advice and were placed in various jobs. The innovation was highly accepted by the society because in later years this group of people, though not trained counsellors, organized move talks, seminars, counselor-at-law workshops and lectures for the class atomic number 23 students. Later on, the vocational advocate operate spread to other unoriginal schools outside Ibadan and across the entire federation.The ministry officials became so arouse in these organized operate that this group of Career Advisers was invited to provide career workshops for teachers and career masters. lastly the term Career Advisers became a national issue. In an attempt to go the old educational system, towards the needs of the nation, the Nigerian Educational Research Council (NERC) in September 1 969 organized a conference on political platform development. The curriculum conference was followed by a government sponsored National Seminar in 1973 under the chairmanship of Chief S.O. Adebo to deliberate on all aspects of a National form _or_ system of government on Education using the report of the 1969 curriculum conference as the working document. The conference came up with recommendations for a New National insurance on Education, which the Federal Government accepted and published in 1977 and rewrite in 1981, 1989 and 2004.With the highlighted changes in the Nations educational system, the need for counsel and counselling operate in Nigerian secondary schools became more glaring. Consequently, Guidance and Counselling Services became an integral and essential component of the educational work at for all students as they progress through the educational system. According to Egbochuku (2008), the aims of school guidance and counselling serve, which are based on a d evelopmental hierarchy, are to provide students with 1. Opportunities to develop knowledge and appreciation of themselves and others 2. Opportunities to develop affinity skills, ethical standards and a sense of responsibility 3. Opportunities to acquire skills and attitudes necessary to develop educational goals which are suited to their needs, interests and abilities 4. Information that would enable them to make decisions about life and career opportunities ( 15). Today, guidance and counselling has gained prominence in the Nigerian educational system and many people are getting interested in the guidance of youth in making wise educational, vocational and personal/social decisions.Consequent upon the expansion of counselling activities in Nigeria and the need to form a larger association to embrace both counsellors and career masters, the Counselling Association of Nigeria (CAN) was launched on the 11th November 1976. To facilitate efficient way of guidance and counselling servi ce in Nigeria secondary schools, guidance and counselling power are being trained in the tertiary institutions and sent to schools to deliver these go. Also, basic courses in guidance and counselling feature in all teachers-education programmes. Prominent among the services rendered by guidance and counselling personnel in secondary schools are Information, Appraisal, Referral, Guidance, Counselling and Planning, Placement and follow-up services for the proper guidance of students.Against this background therefore, the focus of the study is to assess the realities of guidance and counselling services in providing adequate guidance for Nigerian secondary school students. 1.1. Statement of the problem It is assumed that with the increasing complexities in the society, industrial and technological development all going hand-in-hand, the succeeding generation get out find it difficult to adjust themselves both to the society, work, family and schools. Failures in proper adjustment to all the facets mentioned could affect the education of young people and expose them to environmental as well as personal problems in development. Guidance and Counselling, as a delivery service, should not be misconstrued as the traditional type that is based on the principles of to guide, to direct on a course, to enlighten, or to see.This traditional type of counselling was principally carried out in African rightting by heads of families, Priests, and church leaders (Olayinka and Omoegun, 2001). Because of the complex nature of Nigerian society, the counselling profession has assumed a wider role. Present day Guidance and counselling is based on the process of helping individuals understand themselves which will lead to the better understanding of the other aspect of their lives (Egbochuku, 2008).According to the literature, these services are the formalized actions taken by the school to make guidance operational and available to students. These formalized actions typically c onsist of a set of processes, techniques and functions that serve to carry out the guidance and counselling goals of a limited educational direct. For students to be properly informed, they need the assistance of trained guidance and counselling personnel. Hence, the government made it a policy that guidance and counselling should feature in teacher-education programmes because teachers are closer to the students. Furthermore, the department of Guidance and Counselling has been established in most Nigeria Universities to train counsellors at the B.Sc., Master and PhD levels, to raiment them with the appropriate counselling techniques to carry out guidance and counselling services in secondary schools.There is need therefore to assess the guidance and counselling services rendered by school counsellors to find out if these services actually provide adequate guidance for students development. It is therefore hypothesized that Qualification of guidance and counselling personnel, ava ilability of guidance and counselling facilities, quality of guidance and counselling services will not significantly predict students adjustment 1.2. social occasion of the study This study assessed the quality of guidance and counselling services in secondary schools with practicing school counsellors in Edo state. To achieve this, the researcher examined the qualification of personnel providing guidance and counselling services, availability of materials for the successful execution of Nigerian secondary school guidance and counselling services and the impact of guidance programs on students adjustment.1.3. Significance of the study Guidance and counselling is the bedrock for achieving self-actualisation. It is a process of helping individuals to understand themselves by discovering their own needs, interests and capabilities in come out to formulate their own goals and make plans for realizing those goals. An analysis of guidance and counselling services in providing adequate guidance for secondary school students is of paramount greatness hence the this study.The result from the study will help in throwing more light on how guidance and counselling services is being utilise in secondary schools in Nigeria and the quality of guidance services get by secondary school students. In addition, it provides information to education planners and school administrators on their responsibility in providing adequate facilities for guidance and counselling services in order for students to receive quality guidance. It also reveals the extent to which guidance and counselling services influence the total development of the potentials and proper adjustment of secondary school students.2. MethodologyThis is a survey study using correlational research design. The scope of the study covers some selected government and mission secondary schools with practicing school counsellors in Benin City of Edo State Nigeria. This is because Benin City is a metropolitan city and c onsists of three well-populated Local Government Areas (Egor, Oredo, Ikpoba Okha LGA) in Edo South Senatorial District, out of the 18 LGAs in the 3 Senatorial Districts of Edo State. Purposive sampling techniques and simple random sampling techniques were employed in selecting the sample for the study. This study was limited to only sixteen (16) secondary schools thirteen (13) government secondary schools and three mission secondary schools in Benin City because only these schools had practicing school counsellor(s) as at the magazine the study was carried out. In all, there were four hundred and twenty respondents (420). Sex was not a factor in the study.2.1. Instrumentation Two different four-point Likert type scale questionnaires were designed by the researcher to obtain data for the study. These are (1) Secondary School Counsellors Questionnaire (SSCQ) (2) Secondary School Students Questionnaire (SSSQ) The SSCQ consisted of deuce of import dents viz Section A This consisted o f three items requesting information about the level of qualification in guidance and counselling from the respondents. Section B This consisted of cinque items requesting information about the availability of guidance and counselling facilitiesmaterials in the school. The SSSQ also consisted of two sections viz Section A This consisted of eleven items eliciting information about the quality of guidance services rend by counsellors in the school from the respondents.Section B This consisted of twelve items requesting information about the impact of guidance and counselling services on Nigerian secondary school students adjustment. The respondents in each human face were requested to indicate the extent to which they agreed or disagreed to each item. Items one to three in section A of the SSCQ and items one to eleven in section A of the SSSQ were used to test hypothesis one. Items one to five in section B of the SSCQ and items one to eleven in section A of the SSSQ were used to tes t hypothesis two. Items one to eleven in section A of the SSSQ and items one to twelve in section B of the SSSQ were used to test hypothesis three. The scoring of the instruments was as follow powerfully Agree (SA)-4 Agree (A)-3 Disagree (D)-2 Strongly Disagree (SD)-1For all irrefutable worded items the above was the case, while the reverse was the case for all negative worded items in the questionnaire. 2.1.1. Validity and Reliability of the instruments Both construct and face validity was established. The reliability of 0.69 and 0.67 were obtained respectively for sections A and B of the instrument for Counsellors (SSCQ) using the Cronbach Alpha Internal Consistency reliability test. The Students Questionnaire (SSSQ) yielded an alpha coefficient of reliability 0.80. 2.1.2. Administration of the instruments Permission was obtained from the school before administering the questionnaires, which were personally administered by the investigator to the respondents in the various second ary schools selected for the study. 2.2. Analysis of Data Descriptive Statistics and Pearson Product Correlation were used were used for analysis.3. ResultsVariables Qualification of guidance and counselling personnel Quality of guidance servicesThe table 1 shows an r. value of .169 testing at an alpha level of .05 and a p .001. The p. value is less than .05 (p