Impact of Student’s Access to Career Guidance and Counseling on Career Choice of Senior Secondary School Students
CHAPTER ONE
Purpose of the study
The objectives of the study are;
- To find out the factors influence the career decision making of secondary school students
- To find out the factors that influence or affect the effective implementation of vocational guidance in secondary school leavers
- To find out the extent vocational guidance has been able to influence career decision making of secondary school students
- To find out whether vocational guidance reduce the level of unemployment among school leavers
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Genesis of Guidance and Counselling
The history of guidance and counselling in Nigeria can be traced back to the 1960s. The first expansion of these two terms began in the primary and secondary schools shortly after independence. According to Adediran, the organized formula for guidance and counselling in Nigeria started at St. Theresa College in 1959. It was started by the reverend sisters who felt the need to guide secondary school leavers. They asked outsiders to consult with children about possible future professions.
The Federal Ministry of Education encouraged guidance and counselling development in schools by establishing a guidance and counselling unit in 1961. It was suspended later during the civil war but re-established shortly after the civil war. It was during that time that they introduced the new system of education – 6-3-3-4.
The Federal Government finally recognized the importance of guidance and counselling at the end of the 1970s. According to the third National Development Plan, the main efforts were focused onmanpower needs. Therefore, to achieve this goal, it was adopted to give the sense of fulfillment to the people. It led to the creation of the Counselling Association of Nigeria. This organization was connected with the American Personnel and Guidance Association.
In 1981, the Federal Government of Nigeria acknowledged the need for guidance and counseling services. Soon, these two concepts were implemented to the National Policy of Education. It provided the possibility to establish the counselling units in universities and even in the ministries of education.
Concept of Counseling
Counselling either as a concept, practice or a profession has a problem of not having a clearly understood meaning not only to the average Nigerian but also to those other professions including the closest colleagues of the counsellor- teachers and educational administrators. In a developing African country like Nigeria, guidance and counselling services are said to be recent, at least on a relative standard with nations like America and Canada. This probably account for why professional counselling is still seen as irrelevant in a society where the young is born and grows up relying on elders or ‘seniors’ for all advice he needs for education, socialization and adjustment in his development. Counselling is the service offered to the individual who is under going a problem and needs professional help to overcome it. The problem keeps him disturbed, high strung and under tension and unless solved his development is hampered or stunted. Counselling therefore is a more specialized service requiring training in personality development and handling exceptional groups of individuals. According to Willey and Andrew (2011), Counselling involves two individuals one seeking help and other a professionally trained person who helps to solve problems, orient and direct him towards a goal which leads to his maximum development and growth. Counselling services are therefore required for individuals having developmental problems because of the handicap they suffer in any area of emotional either because of hereditary factors or environment conditions .Counselling is an integral part of an over-all programme of guidance.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
In this chapter, we would describe how the study was carried out.
Research design
The design adopted for the study is sample survey. A survey research is defined as one in which a group of people or items is studied by collecting and analyzing data from only a few people or items considered to be representative of the entire group. (Nworgu, 2015).
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION OF DATA AND ANALYSIS
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Conclusion
The research investigated the impact of student’s access to career guidance and counseling on career choice of senior secondary school students in Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State. A twenty-three (23) item research questionnaire was used to elicit response from the respondents who= were used to carry out the investigation. This number was randomly chosen for out of the population; using JSSIII and SSIII students as its subjects. The questionnaire was based on four research questions.
Finally, the results were discussed and some recommendations were made, At the end of the research, the study revealed that; vocational guidance has become indispensable as long as making career choice is concerned. Also vocational guidance to a great extent influences career choice of secondary school students, vocational guidance practically reduces the level of unemployment among school leavers.
Recommendation
The following recommendations were made based on the research findings:
- Secondary school students should be exposed to the importance of guidance services and what counseling is all about in order for them to make good career decisions.
- Students should be enlightened through vocational guidance on the available and the right career path to take. This in essence would help reduce the level of unemployment among school leavers.
- Students should be trained properly on areas that can lead them to employment. This can be achieved by developing the three domains of the individual; which is psychomotor, affective and the cognitive domain.
- The researcher also recommends that proper and adequate time should be created for guidance and counseling activities in secondary schools. If possible, guidance and counseling should be included in the school’s curriculum.
- Guidance and counseling programme should be well funded by government and also the full support of the secondary school principals is being implored in order to take guidance programme to its apogee.
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