CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1    BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Guidance and counselling in secondary school settings is acquiring a fresh lease of life. Nigeria's educational purpose has grown to encompass Guidance and counselling services at primary, secondary, and higher education institutions. Junior secondary school in Nigeria begins following the successful completion of the sixth grade, or primary six (Erford, 2011). After three years of classroom instruction, a kid will be eligible to take the junior high school certificate test. After successfully completing JSS III, students will be enrolled in SSS I. Early adolescents who have successfully transitioned from the first six grades make up the majority of pupils who begin junior secondary school. The transition from childhood to adolescence is a difficult time for the developing youngster. Take a look at our culture now; adolescent is the most threatened age group. Those who drop out of school join antisocial groups and engage in all types of criminal activity across the country. Secondary schools have become a breeding ground for antisocial organizations (Eremie, 2006). Not only do these children join hazardous antisocial organizations, but they also use hard and illegal narcotics (Effiong, 2005). Peer pressure has a big impact on them, which leads to juvenile delinquency all around the country. Due to a lack of effective guidance and counseling services in the school system, some of these pupils drop out. We can't stand by and watch our students waste away on the streets and in jails, awaiting trial or already incarcerated. These children must be reclaimed via competent guidance and counselling at the junior and senior secondary school levels (Neukrug, 2011). In response to these demands, the Federal Ministry of Education has outlined guidance and counselling goals in the Blue Print for educational institutions in Nigeria. The Federal Ministry of Education's identification of such demands, if carried out properly by school guidance counsellors, will assist pupils in focusing their attention on their academic work. As it was performed during the time of Frank Parson, guidance was the father of counselling. In the days of Frank Parsons, the focus of guidance was on assisting individuals in making decisions about classroom educational activities as well as preparing them to pursue a certain career or occupation. A guidance counsellor's job is to help students make decisions about which courses to take and how to schedule them in a school context. Counselling, on the other hand, is the process through which a person (counselee) enters into a helpful relationship with a professionally certified counsellor in order to assist the counselee in making choices and decisions that lead to desired development and progress over the course of their lives. Secondary school students and instructors have various perspectives on guidance and counselling services (Lawson, 2004). These views determine whether or not they will seek guidance and counselling. Their views have an impact on their conduct, academic achievement, and everyday life. The continuance of indiscipline and numerous social evils in Nigerian secondary schools, including as drug and substance misuse, strikes, and teenage pregnancies, in addition to low performance in national tests, indicate that secondary school students are not seeking guidance and counselling services (Edith, 2000). Individuals face issues, obstacles, and conflict situations as they go through life stages and educational achievement. These folks must also build value systems, make judgments, and set and achieve goals. All of this is impossible to attain without developing self-awareness and decision-making abilities, which are not natural but must be acquired. Individuals/students must be exposed to guidance and counselling services in order to address these problems and encourage educational achievement and a healthy lifestyle. Although several writers have attempted to define the terms individually, guidance and counselling are frequently used jointly to focus on supporting individuals in gaining self-understanding and direction. While Ezeji (2001) defines guidance as a person's assistance in making decisions, making adjustments, and solving problems, Denga (2001) sees guidance as a collection of formalized educational services designed by the school to help students gain self-knowledge or self-understanding, which is required for them to achieve full self-development and self-realization of their potential. Okeke (2003), on the other hand, defines counselling as a collaborative relationship between a counsellor and a client in which the counsellor uses his professional knowledge and skills to help the client achieve proper development and maturity, improved functioning, and the ability to cope with life's challenges. According to Eze (2012), counselling is an inter-personal relationship between a professionally trained individual (counsellor) and a troubled individual (counselee) or individuals (counselees), in which the former uses his professional skills to assist the latter in resolving his educational, vocational, and personal social problems. According to Bark (2003), guidance and counselling are the services provided by skilled and trained individuals to help an individual of any age manage his or her own daily activities, develop his or her own points of view, make his or her own decisions, and bear his or her own burden. Based on the aforementioned definitions, the researcher views counselling as a process in which a person (counsellor) uses professional abilities to aid another (client) in a person-to-person connection to resolve general life difficulties in order to accomplish optimal growth and functioning. Because no one is free of difficulties or problem, general life problems refers to all areas of an individual's life, including personal, social, educational, and occupational issues, among others. Guidance and counselling are therefore intended to assist people/students with their many difficulties and worries, so that they grow up to be well-adjusted persons capable of not only leading productive lives, but also contributing their fair share to the development of their community. Guidance and counselling services, according to Gibson (2008), prepare students to take on more responsibility for their decisions and to improve their ability to understand and accept the consequences of their decisions. Guidance and counseling in schools are designed to address the needs and concerns of students and learners at various stages of academic or educational growth. According to Braddock (2001), the goal of guidance and counselling in schools is to promote academic achievement, create good study attitudes and habits, boost conflict resolution skill acquisition and application, and reduce school dropouts. The fundamental goal of a school's guidance and counselling department is to offer pupils with a wide range of personnel services. These services, according to Denga (2001), are a "cluster of institutionalized educational services established by the school to aid students in achieving self-knowledge or self-understanding, which is required for them to reach the greatest self-development and self-realization of their potential." Student assessment service, information service, counselling service, placement service, orientation service, referral service, follow-up and evaluation service, and research service are just a few of the services available (Jude, 2003). The use of tests and non-test instruments to gather, analyze, and interpret data about students in order to better understand themselves is part of the appraisal service. It also gives counsellors and significant others access to information about a student's strengths and limitations. The information service is designed to provide students with the information they need in the fields of education, occupational training, and personal and social development. These details are crucial because they help students make informed decisions about their lives. Counselling is a face-to-face interaction between a counsellor and a student in which the counsellor assists the student in overcoming hurdles to their academic, occupational, personal-social, and other life requirements. The goal of a placement service is to help students transition to the next stage of their growth, whether it's in school or on the work (Jiga, 2001). The purpose of the orientation service is to acquaint new students with their surroundings. As an introduction to a new environment, it is a process of introducing an individual to a work or learning scenario and informing him about rules, regulations, and duties (Darmian, 2008). Referral service allows school counselors to recommend instances that they are unable to manage to experts such as clinical psychologists, medical practitioners, and others. The purpose of the follow-up and assessment service is to determine if the school's earlier guidance program is reaching the goals for which it was created, as well as to track students' development at their workplaces. The school counselor can use the research service to find appropriate material that will assist them enhance their pupils' learning and comprehension. Professional counsellors should accept and support the service as a continuous process. These services should be arranged to assist the growth and development of all children from kindergarten through post-high school experiences, and they should be at the heart of any guidance program (Erford, 2010).

1.2    STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

In its National Policy on Education (2004), the Nigerian federal government mandated that all states incorporate guidance and counselling services in their school curricula. Nonetheless, one is disappointed by the government's sluggishness in implementing this critical education program. This is demonstrated by the fact that only 70 out of 300 public secondary schools in a state are required to have professional guidance counsellors. This has had a constant impact on kids' academic achievement. It's no surprise that overall performance in the external Examination of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) has been poor throughout the years, as has the rate of student transfer to postsecondary institutions. This piqued the researcher's curiosity in learning more about secondary school teachers' perspectives on guidance and counselling.

1.3   OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The primary goal of this study is to learn about teachers' views on the function of guidance counselling. More specifically, the study aims to:

i. Determine whether or not guidance and counselling services are available in Sokoto state secondary schools.

ii. Determine the roles of guidance and counselling services on students' academic achievement.

iii. Determine the roles of guidance and counselling services on Sokoto State students' transition rates to postsecondary institutions.

iv. Determine the percentage of male and female students who attend tertiary institutions.

1.4   RESEARCH QUESTONS

i. Is  guidance and counselling services  available in Sokoto state secondary schools?

ii. What are  the roles of guidance and counselling services on students' academic achievement?

iii. What are the roles of guidance and counselling services on Sokoto State students' transition rates to postsecondary institutions?

iv. What is the percentage of male and female students who attend tertiary institutions?

1.5   SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Researchers would benefit from the study since it will provide additional information on teachers' views on the functions of guidance and counseling in Nigerian secondary schools.

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