Introduction
1.1 Background Information
Guidance and counselling as the name implies in the mode and conduct by which an individual or a body of individual assist in the aspect of co-ordination, which lead to efficiency in a given state or policy for the up keep of the future, in a situation as it was from origination traditionally, people were guided through the use of “Ikoro” ‘Ekwe’ or what we refer to as “talking drum”. This is because, once the people hearts their sounds, everyone pays attentions, listen alternatively, because important information laws, policies and relations are usually made through such means. These traditional modes of communicating have been very successful ingredients for guidance within our society.
As a result of urbanization, and sophistication other means of guidance came into existence, such as the mass media, namely the television, the radio, the newspapers and magazines. Through these organs relevant and important information is communicated to the society are expected to be aware of their rights and wrongs and so rules and regulations will be kept. Also, within the school system, people are guided through the use of notice board, college bulletins, timetables, syllabus, magazines, bells posters and handbooks of various types. Besides, within the home children are guided through parental verbal interaction and the use of positive and negative reinforcement to ensure that order and discipline are maintained. Apart from that, when an individuals with little problems, leaves his or her home to visit a medicine man i.e. “Debia” in Jos and “baba-Ade” in Yoruba. He believes strongly that the medicine man with his charms and amulets will guide him to recovery through the instructions on how to mix and use certain concoction prepared by him. Also, people could be guided through the use of intuition.
Many philosophers believed that through the use of intuition skills many can achieve high philosophical standards that can guide ones attitude, values, norms and emotions. The above explanation points that guidance has been going on within our society, but revealed that such guidance aims at achievement of ones needs and desires, it further indicates that such guidance is more compulsive and regimented and so does not give room for ones cognitive restructuring or transformation of ideas. The traditional guidance has to weakness arising from modernization and industrialization. Thus, the traditional concept of guiding cannot cope with much of the complexity in our society. The deficiency in the traditional concept of guidance renders the above definition have to be given to be able to match its aims and purpose with the complexities of the modern society, especially as it relates to our school system.
“Guidance and counselling” is a twin word that is inseparable, but for the purpose of this study, the word “guidance” originated from the Greek word guide meaning to direct, lead, guide, pilot, assist show, inform, control advice, help, teachers give fact facts and to instruct. According to Mr. Eduwen (1994) guidance is a process of assisting individuals to understand himself and his environment, while Eduwen also defined counselling as the interaction between a trained personnel (the counsellor) and a trouble individuals (the Counsellee) for the purpose of helping the Counsellee to resolve his or her problems or crisis. The history and development of guidance and counselling as a formal educational services within the system started in the late 1950s, when a group of revered sisters of the saint twenty outsiders from different works of life to advice the sixty outgoing students on the nature of the different jobs in order to direct their choice of career through the talks.
Through group of twenty met regularly in the following year and decided to cater not for only schools, but for other school in Ibadan and its environs. Later principals of school, representation from ministry of education, health, trade, industry and labour were invited to a meeting held on October 1961 to inaugurate the Ibadan career council and this later formed the nucleus of what was then knows as “The Nigerian Career Council”. As a result of the widening of the activities of the council throughout Nigeria, the name Counselling Associated of Nigeria (CAN). The organization has been very effective in the development of guidance service in Nigeria by organizing workshops, conferences, seminars, symposium and soon, to disseminate guidance information. They published a journal called “the counsellor” currently it has led to the organizing of the guidance units by federal and state ministries of education. The poor academic record necessitated the need to find out whether guidance and counselling service had any influence on academic performance of secondary school students in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo state.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Guidance and counselling centres are of vital importance at all levels at Education. Unfortunately, there has not been any career in any secondary school in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State and as such the students cannot identify their talents since the new system of education their them to many career. Furthermore, many students do not know or value the importance of education in the sense that they do not exploit their environment. This is because they are guided towards the manipulation of environment.
This is because they are guided towards the manipulation of the resources around them and so they are never serious with their education. The nation is also there among parents and heads of schools that the essence of education but that is not all. As a matter of facts, the aim of education will be defeated if the students cannot out of interest choose a career to follow while in schools. In the actual sense, the presence of guidance and counselling in our schools will in nor small measure reduce the rate of drop out, juvenile delinquency, armed robber and other social ills.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
This study sought to assess the influence of guidance and counselling service on academic performance of selected public secondary school students in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo state.
1.4 Objectives of the Study
The study aimed at achieving the following specific objectives:
- To establish effectiveness of guidance and counselling service in secondary schools.
- To determine the professional qualifications of the teacher counsellors handling guidance and counselling service in schools.
- To identify the role of school administration and other teachers in enhancing guidance and counselling service.
- To determine the attitude of students towards educational/career counselling in their schools.
- To examine academic performance among secondary school students.
- To establish the relationship between the level of effectiveness of guidance and counselling and academic performance of secondary school students.
- To identify the challenges facing guidance and counselling service.
1.5 Research Questions
The study addressed the following research questions:
- What is the effectiveness of guidance and counselling service in secondary schools?
- What are the professional qualifications of the teacher counsellors handling guidance and counselling service in schools?
- What the role of the school administration and other teachers in enhancing guidance and counselling service?
- What is the attitude of students towards educational/career counselling in their schools?
- What is the academic performance among secondary school students?
- Is there any relationship between the level of effectiveness of guidance and counselling and academic performance of secondary school students?
- What are the challenges facing guidance and counselling service in schools?
1.6 Significance of the Study
The importance of this study is multidimensional and includes to assist the child to develop and increase self understanding and comprehension of the relationship between his abilities, interest, personality, achievement and opportunities. The study will help in facilitating the socialization process and sensitivity to the needs of others. To develop social interest and a feeling to belonging. It will help in making the child to become purposeful and responsible. The study will help to develop whole some attitude and concepts about self in the feeling of adequacy and self in the feeling of adequacy and self acceptance and the courage to function in the tasks of life. From the parents view point, this relations and problems in the family setting as they relates to this child.
In addition, it will help them develop realistic views about their children development in relating to their potentialities. Above all it will help them understand their children education and social progress and problems. To teachers, this study will help him to stimulate and promote the use of guidance procedures thereby increasing the utilization of meaningful pupils personal date. It will help him to promote early identification of assets and talents and as well as liabilities of pupils. It will help him develop recognition of the importance of readiness and involvement process as crucial concept, which produce purposeful education experience. It will also help him to reconcile the uniqueness of the individual and the demands of the school and the society. All the government level, the study will go along way in helping the country to identify her talented youths and nurture them to the optimal level of social, education and economical development.
In this new guiding young people to pursue the right type of education in which there is no overpopulation of certain manpower needs and under-produced of the other aspect of the manpower needs is a sure process of building a scientific and technological society. In addition, practicing counsellor and teacher will find the result of this study useful in the discharge of their duties. Above all, the researcher hopes that result of this study will help the educational planners and the government to see the need for guidance and counselling centres in secondary schools in Oredo local government of Edo State.
1.7 The Scope and Limitations of the Study
The study focused on the influence of guidance and counselling service on academic performance of secondary school students in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo state. Oredo Local Government Area was chosen as a research site due to the available evidence of poor academic performance among students in national examinations (Oredo Local Government Area Education Office, 2005).
This study encountered a number of limitations which impeded effective answering of the research questions. These limitations include:
(i) Academic performance of students in a school is determined by very many factors including the ability of the individual student, the quality of the teachers, the staffing level, availability of facilities, and guidance and counselling, among others. Therefore, it is not practically possible to isolate one factor and link it to the level of academic performance. However, in this study, the researcher is confined to the academic areas that are of concern to the guidance and counselling service only.
(ii) All secondary schools in the country were expected to have implemented guidance and counselling service as directed by the government through the Ministry of Education. Therefore, effective analysis of the influence of the service in the country requires a consideration of as many schools as possible.
However, due to time, manpower and financial resource constraints, it is not practically possible to cover all the schools in the country. This means that only a small sample of the schools was be involved. Thus, the 10 public secondary schools in Oredo Local Government Area, which are a very small fraction of the total number of schools in the country, were involved in this study. The findings of this study were therefore confined to the sampled schools and students in Oredo Local Government Area and can not be overly generalized to all secondary schools in the country.
1.8 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 service 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 service 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.
Public schools:
These are schools facilitated and controlled/regulated by the government.
Teacher Counsellor:
A school teacher who has undergone formal training in guidance and counselling including theory and practice.
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