EVALUATION OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING PROGRAMME IN SOME SELECTED SCHOOLS

EVALUATION OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING PROGRAMME IN SOME SELECTED SCHOOLS

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research is to assess the effectiveness of a secondary school counselling and guidance program in the Loko Development Area inspectorate. Even though there isn’t enough time for counselling due to other unavoidable problems, the study found that the guidance and counselling program has a positive impact on students’ lives (77.3%) because the counsellors who helped them with career week treated them like parents and gave them good advice about what they should study in college (54.1%).

The researchers also suggested that enough resources be allocated to provide counsellors with the training and support they need to do their jobs well.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study 

Here in Nigeria, the services of guidance and counselling are most noticeable in schools, but they are also needed in hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centres, banks, social welfare units, police stations, churches, mosques, and other places of worship.

That’s why we included guidance and counselling as a subject in our school curriculum: to produce professionals who can help people in any part of life.

Professionals in the field of guidance and counselling have extensive expertise that may be employed to help students avoid difficulties that may result from making poor decisions and actions, as well as to find solutions to current problems.

Since the beginning of time, individuals have sought out guidance and counselling from those more knowledgeable than themselves in order to solve their own difficulties. This is because no human being has ever been born with complete knowledge. One cannot overstate the significance of guidance and counselling in traditional societies.

People looked to those more knowledgeable, experienced, or able to help them solve their problems. Traditional counsellors may have had supernatural powers, such as the ability to heal, see into the future, or mediate between humans and gods.

These advisors served as consultants and, given the relative simplicity of both society and the environment at the time, preferred to solve most of the problems that people brought to them.

Traditional counselling seems to have been insufficient as a result of the complexity of today’s environments and societies, as well as the overarching goals and philosophies of nations around the globe. As Rocher (1991.1) points out, people face a lot of problems and confusion in all aspects of life.

With more and more students enrolling in college, more and more courses being offered, more and more work being done, and students’ needs and problems becoming more complex, there is a clear need for more mature, experienced, and professionally qualified individuals to provide guidance and counselling.

This will help students develop their unique potentials and achieve personal fulfilment as well as social and environmental upliftment in Nigeria.

Having professionally qualified guidance and counselling workers is crucial in many areas of life, but notably in our educational institution. This victory reduced the potential for mistakes to a manageable level. In light of the foregoing, it is clear that a comprehensive guidance and counselling program is crucial to the success of our educational institution.

In light of the fact that many students lack knowledge about potential career paths and experience personality disorders in the classroom, the Nigerian federal government has designated post-primary institutions to serve as career offices and counselling centres, as stated in the country’s official policy on education.

As stated in F.G.N. (1998), page 43. On this basis, “counselling is expected to be on integral cost effective component of the Educational process aimed at curbing wastage of talent and enhancing appropriate decision making and personal adjustment” (Denga, 1986). “It was also envisaged that by 1980, a school in Nigeria.”

Nevertheless, it appears that educational institutions have not made a significant influence, despite this commendable move by the federal government and the elevated expectations and ambitions of the people. There are a lot of factors that contribute to kids making terrible decisions, including pressure from parents and peers as well as societal and environmental factors.

These mistakes not only diminish students’ satisfaction but also exacerbate societal problems. To address this, the Federal Government of Nigeria developed the National Policy on Education, which places a focus on the implementation of guidance and counselling programs in secondary schools.

This is because our educational institutions are the first line of defence against social ills and vices, and the best place to start is at the elementary and middle levels of education. This is why the researchers in Nasarawa state decided to conduct a study evaluating counselling and guiding programs in secondary schools.

Considering the data provided by Mallam A. Guidance and counselling have been around since the beginning of time, according to his book “Guidance and counselling beginners guidance” (2000). Since the beginning of time, people have needed it to fit in with their communities and fulfil their basic needs. Without guidance, people tend to be ignorant, but with it, they can perform better and reach their full potential.

Similarly, in our traditional civilisation, our ancestors guided and counselled their children while they learnt trades like fishing, caving, weaving, and wood cutting. The United States, however, was the birthplace of modern advice and counselling in the late 1800s (1890s).

Family disorganisation, the growing student population with wildly varying levels of preparedness for learning, professional and psychological anxieties, and a host of other issues are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the complex environmental and social forces at work today.

In 1908, Frank Parson—now known as the “Father of guidance”—saw the necessity to establish a vocational advice program in response to the aforementioned issue. In 1909, Frank Parson penned a book that tackled the topic of choosing a vocation or profession.

The three steps that Parson (1908) identified in his book to address issues related to career choice are as follows:

1) Getting to know the person: this involves learning about the person through data acquired about them.

2) Being Job-Ready: Being Job-Ready means being familiar with the duties, responsibilities, entry requirements, growth opportunities, and compensation offered by the company.

3) After carefully considering the two factors mentioned earlier, the individual and job are matched.

Jessie B. Danes, who followed the steps outlined by the person-centred professional path to become a teacher, was another influential member of the movement.

Furthermore, he placed an emphasis on character development in his book, moral and vocational guidance services in Washington, where she assisted students in thriving amidst intense competition for life’s opportunities.

Since then, coaching and mentoring have been accepted as a discipline in numerous countries, including Nigeria, thanks to Annay Reed’s establishment of the field.

 1.2.1 A Historical Overview of Guidance and counselling in Nigeria: 

According to Mallam A. Yakubu (2000), a group of pious Irish sisters at St. Theresa’s College, Oko-Ado, Ibadan, recognised the need for vocational assistance of the final year students in 1959, which led to the creation of guidance and counselling in Nigeria. Graduate female student in their university.

After that, in December 1959, they asked twenty (20) foreigners, including ministry officials and important men from the Ibadan community, for advice on what to do with sixty (60) of their girls who had dropped out of school.

Unlike the students and religious sisters, these guys have formal training as counsellors, but they certainly knew more about the new world of employment. Ibadan Career Council was founded in 1961 as a result of this. In 1967, the same group transitioned into the Nigeria Career Council.

Donga (1983) and Akingboye (1907) both state that the program’s origins can be linked to the 1977 publication of the National Policy on Education, which outlined the program’s necessity. In addition, its relevance to the successful execution of the 6-3-34 system, the nation’s current education policy, was emphasised.

Under the new system, students have the chance to immerse themselves in a wide range of artistic and scientific disciplines throughout their first three years of high school.

This will help them find their niche. In order to help the student retire comfortably after finishing school, we expose him to a variety of occupations. In 1967, a guiding and counselling agency known as Nigeria Career Counselling was established with the purpose of disseminating career information and addressing career-related concerns. Therefore, in 1961, to back this white man’s appointment to the position of federal minister of education.

Rumour has it that the Federal Ministry of Education in 1961 hosted the country’s first worship service dedicated to vocational guidance and counselling, and that this official gesture did much to encourage and facilitate such services in western Nigeria, which at the time had already established an advised teachers college at Ibadan.

Based on available information, it appears that the University of 1.badan established the first indigenous full-fledged department of guidance and counselling in Nigeria in 1975.

In 1967, the counselling association of Nigeria (CASSON) was also inaugurated at the same university. It is encouraging to see that numerous Nigerian universities, including those in Ibadan, Jog, Ilorin, Nsuka, Benin, Zaria, and Abuja, among others, provide courses to develop professionals in the field of guiding and counselling.

Nonetheless, its development is hindered by persistent issues with instruction. Chapter 2 goes into detail about these issues, but some examples include: a lack of funding, an inadequate office space, an inadequate number of training counsellors, and so on.

1.2 Statement Of The Problem

Given the world in which we find ourselves, the incorporation of counselling and assistance within our educational systems could not have come at a better moment. This research takes on the task of evaluating the guidance and counselling program in a few chosen secondary schools in the Lafia area inspectorate office, Nasarawa state.

The field has many benefits to offer, but it also faces many challenges that hinder its effectiveness. The researcher will ask questions like, “Are the trained personnel available?” in order to do this. 2) Do we have the resources to effectively carry out the counselling and assistance that is offered?

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The purpose of this research is to assess the effectiveness of the counselling and guiding programs offered by the sampled secondary schools. In order to accomplish her goal, the researcher will conduct a thorough analysis of the state’s program administration in order to:

1. Find out how far along the program is in its development in the research domain.

2. Find out what the state’s most important performance indicator is.

3. Proposes changes that could enhance the software.

1.4 The significance Of The Study

Research like this is crucial because, if done well, it will show how far the state’s guidance and counselling program has come and what factors are preventing it from being fully utilised as an educational service that contributes to the attainment of national goals.

The findings will guide every person or organisation to make a constructive contribution to the new educational goals’ overall objective.

Students will benefit from this study in two ways: first, it will increase their appreciation for guidance and counselling services; and second, it will show them how to use these services to attain their life goals.

In view of parents’ evolving roles in society, this study will help them reorganise and adjust their expectations and demands of their children’s education.

As a result, the principal will come to understand that counselling and guiding services are an important component of the 6-3-3-4 framework for education. Additionally, it will assist him in keeping track of and assessing the students’ sentiments about the performance.

For example, the principal may advocate for a school-wide guidance program by submitting recommendations and reports to the government via the ministry of education regarding the need for such a program at his institution.

The teacher will be able to avoid wasting time and energy by clearly understanding his responsibilities in the student’s education. In order for the government to effectively support guidance and counselling programs, it is helpful to acquire first-hand information on the challenges faced by schools.

1.5 Research Questions

You will find the answers to the following questions in the course of your research.

i. How much experience does the counsellor have?

Part two. Are there sufficient resources for the counsellor to work with?

Part iii. Would the students be open to meeting with the counsellors?

set IV. To what extent does the school counsellor collaborate with other faculty members?

v. Will the counsellors have enough money to do their jobs?

1.6 Assumptions of The Study

Assumptions made by the researcher in this study include:

i. The state of Nasarawa does not have enough qualified counsellors.

Part two. The pupils in the area being studied are not very knowledgeable about the program or its significance.

Part iii. There is a shortage of private office space and other essential amenities for the counsellor.

set IV. Both the budget and the amount of time available for counselling are woefully inadequate.

1.7 The Scope of the Study

A researcher from the Nasarawa state office of the Loko Development Area plans to assess a selection of secondary schools’ guidance and counselling programs. The inspectorate office of the Loko Development Area randomly chose a few schools to test their efficacy. Here they are:

i. Loko, a public secondary school

Part two. Levelo, Loko, Government Junior Secondary School

Part iii. Aisa, a public secondary school

set IV. A public high school Aza

The focus, however, is solely on students in grades SSS 1-3 in senior high schools.

1.8 Definition of Terms

The researcher has decided to define a few terminology used in this study that pertain to education in order to make things clearer and easier to grasp.

Helping people of all ages become more self-reliant by facilitating their development of ideas, decision-making processes, and capacity to handle their own responsibilities is what we mean when we talk about guidance (1960).

COUNSELLING: – A procedure whereby an individual with a problem is assisted by a trained counsellor or makes voluntary changes to their behaviour, attitude, ideas, and goals in order to address their situation (1986). In this type of counselling, the therapist and client meet face to face.

A student’s educational needs, ambitions, aims, and goals can be best met through the use of guidance and counselling, an educational service.

The term “counsellor” refers to a person who has received the appropriate training and has the necessary qualifications to assist troubled individuals who are unable to handle their problems on their own.

CHAPTER TWO

  REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

    INTRODUCTION

This section is devoted to the researcher’s literature review, which addresses:

1. The importance of assessment

2. Principles of advising and supporting

3. Counselling and guidance’s aims and purposes

4. Sort of advisory service

5. Counselling Skills

6. A school counselor’s role

7. Advice and direction from experts in the field regarding the;

a. Counselling and guiding services are necessary.

b. Issues that make Nigeria’s school counselling and guidance programs less effective.

2.2 The Need For Evaluation

Looking back at what we’ve done and how we’re doing it now helps us get better at what we’re doing next. In the same way that citizens use evaluation processes to judge and make decisions about many aspects of life, including salary, promotions, job terminations, and retirement, individuals also use evaluation processes to assess their own lifestyles and make adjustments and decisions that will better their families. In order to keep or enhance the educational system, institutions of learning regularly assess their students, instructors, and programs.

Everyday human actions are driven by evolution, as shown in the instances above. The following are reasons why evaluation of counselling and guiding services is necessary, according to Unachukwu and lgborgbor’s definition of evaluation as “a process for appreciating the value of effectiveness of a program or activity” (1.99 I).

The goal is to identify any shortcomings in the counselling and guiding program and the steps taken to address them. part two. Through the collection of evidence, we can determine the veracity or lack thereof of the assertion on the significance of the guidance and counselling program.

Based on the above, evaluation is characterised by two main features.

i. Work and value evaluations are part of it, and

Part two. It has to do with how decisions are made.

Thus, it is essential to conduct regular evaluations of our educational programs, including guidance and counselling, in order to ensure that we are meeting our goals.

This is particularly true in the 6-3-3-4 system, as pointed out by Ezeugu (1911): “Education will have no basic for decision making on opinion” (specifically, “Evaluation of guidance program is an important part of any on-going guidance activity”).

That there is room for development and improvement in guiding services provided by any advice and counselling organisation. To sum up, the purpose of evaluation is to determine how far down the path to progress we are in relation to our stated goals.