GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING; A TOOL FOR QUALITY ENHANCEMENT IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

1.1 Introduction

Guidance and counseling is a practice that had been in existence for a long time and had been passed on from one generation to another. Guidance and Counseling carry different but overlapping meaning (Birichi et al., 2009). Main goal of guidance and counseling is to help people understand themselves in order to deal with life experiences in a healthy manner, by being able to recognize the factors that cause problems and look for appropriate methods of resolving or avoiding the situations that may lead to unhealthy lifestyles.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitation of the study and Definition of terms.

1.2 Background of Study

Guidance and counseling are essential elements in discipline management of people in all societies even the most primitive societies grew out of the necessity of guiding individual’s behavior patterns in the interest of the group. Society itself could not function without the exercise of discipline. Using guidance and counseling to enhance discipline must be continuously being practiced if people are to work harmoniously for the achievement of common purpose.

As individuals develop through stages of life and educational attainment, they encounter problems, challenges and conflict situations. These individuals also need to develop value systems, make decisions, set goals and work towards them. All these cannot be achieved without self-understanding and decision-making skills, which are not innate, but need to be developed. The need to address these challenges and to promote educational success and healthy life therefore, call for exposure to guidance and counselling programs by individuals/students. Guidance and counselling is a term usually used together which focus on assisting individuals attain self-understanding and direction, although attempts have been made by various authors to define the term separately. While Ezeji (2001), defines guidance as the help given by a person to another in making choices, adjustment and in solving problems.

Denga (2001) sees guidance as a cluster of formalised educational services designed by the school to assist students to achieve self knowledge or self-understanding which is necessary for them to attain full self-development and self- realization of their potential. On the other hand, Okeke (2003) defines counselling as a helping relationship involving the counsellor and the client, in which the counsellor uses his professional knowledge and skills to assist the client attain proper development and maturity, improved functioning and ability to cope with life’s problems.

Counselling is also defined according to Eze (2012), as an inter-personal relationship between a professionally trained individual (counsellor) and a troubled individual (counsellee) or individuals (counsellees) whereby the former utilises his professional skills to help the latter to be able to solve his educational, vocational and person social problems. Bark (2003), states that guidance and counselling are the assistance made available by qualified and trained persons to an individual of any age to help him to manage his own life activities, develop his own points of view, make his own decisions and carry his own burden.

Student indiscipline had plagued schools leading to series of unrest, destruction of school property, vandalism, sexual abuse, killing and drug abuse just to mention. According to Agenga and Simatwa (2011) at Colobine high school in Colorado two heavily armed students killed twelve students, one teacher and seriously wounded nearly two dozen others before killing themselves, in the Sharpeville massacre of 1960 affected students in South Africa. In Nigeria 1990 schools were in so much conflict that soldiers were deployed to school assist in control of students’ behavior. In Nigeria the indiscipline cases were on the rise ranging from school unrest, drug abuse, sexual abuse pregnancy, bullying, aggressive behavior laziness and inept parenting. Traditionally, suspension, expulsion and corporal punishment were popularly used to contain indiscipline.

Students need counselling programme as a result of these unruly behaviours. In order words, university undergraduates need help to resolve their home, social, academics, health, emotional, vocational, financial and religious problems. The undergraduates at this level are made to understand the nature and complexity of their problems and better means of solving the problems. Fresh students appear to be plagued by the questions self-defined by their present status within the community, by their position within their peer group and by their academic performances in secondary school. Without counselling programme/support, they will feel inferior and be defeated of their social identities. Difficulties may come the way of new students trying to adjust to the new environment and they will find it painful and hectic. This may be due to the differences they encounter in life when in secondary schools. Values espoused by other students are social climate, course of study, study conditions and degree of freedom and adjustment to these differences often result in crises of some sort. The crises can be averted if guidance and counselling services are made available to this category of students at the point of entering into the university. The importance of guidance and counselling services among undergraduates are glaring and inevitable. The services are veritable instruments for achieving success in and out of school.

Therefore, in Awka South Local Government of Anambra State where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Effectiveness of Guidance and Counselling as a Tool for Quality Enhancement in Secondary Schools.

1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that Student who have access to counseling programs reported being more adjusted, positive and having greater feelings of belonging and safety in their schools. The Federal Government of Nigeria, in its National Policy on Education (2004), has mandated every state to include guidance and counselling programs in the school curriculum. Yet one wonders with dismay the slackness with which Taraba State Government has taken the implementation of this important education policy. This is evident in the fact that, of the 201 public secondary schools in the state which are supposed to have professional guidance counsellors, only 70 out of this number have. This has consistently affected the academic performance of the students.

No wonder the state’s general performances in the external Examination of the West African Examination Council (WAEC), over the years have been low, and consequently the rate of transition of students to tertiary institutions.

This then raises the following question: Does the provision of Guidance and Counselling services have influence on the academic achievement and transition rate of the students in the state? This was the issue the researcher intended to investigate.

1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to examine the Effectiveness of Guidance and Counselling as a Tool for Quality Enhancement in Secondary Schools. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To establish the approaches used in guidance and counseling in solving Secondary school students disciplinary problems in Nigeria;
2. To determine the factors that hinder effective guidance and counseling of Secondary school students in Nigeria;
3. To determine the influence of guidance and counselling services on students’ academic achievement in secondary schools;
4. To examine the status of guidance and counseling among Secondary school students in Nigeria; and
5. To compare the motivation towards school of those students who received career guidance and those who have not received guidance and counseling.

1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• What the approaches used in guidance and counseling in solving Secondary school students disciplinary problems in Nigeria?
• What is the status of guidance and counseling among Secondary school students in Nigeria?
• What are the factors that hinder effective guidance and counseling of Secondary school students in Nigeria?
• What is the influence of guidance and counselling services on students’ academic achievement in secondary schools?
• What is the motivation towards school of those students who received career guidance and those who have not received guidance and counseling?