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THE NEED FOR GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING SERVICES AMONG NIGERIA UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
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ABSTRACT
The apparent ignorance of many young people about career prospects, in view of the personality maladjustment among schoolchildren and adults, necessitated the federal government appointing career officers and counsellors in post-primary institutions through the Federal Ministry of Education, hence the establishment of guidance and counselling in the Nigerian school system. However, the low rate of guidance and counselling officers at the moment, which is inversely proportional to the alarming increase in vocational opportunities in our society, creates a great and major problem in the field of careers.
The changing nature of society, the breakdown of tradition, morals, and personal convictions concerning good and bad, the changing nature of the community, and the demands to fit into the society make it a matter of urgency and the need for assistance or guidance. Counselling equips the individual with the necessary tools for effective problem-solving when a problem arises in the future. It renders a helping service with the skills and methods of an individual for a more meaningful perception of this problem. Given this, educational counselling is therefore applied within the educational setting, which provides students the skills to approach and solve their educational problems with a solution that is geared towards meeting the demands, expectations, norms, and morals of society.
It is obvious, beyond every doubt, that the population explosion of youths in the country seeks the concurrence expansion in the enrolment of pupils and students in primary, secondary, and even JAMB (Joint Admission and Matriculation Board). Those who pass their examinations either by hook or by crook and gain admission, especially in the higher institutions, do so ignorantly, probably to find solace under the name of ‘Higher Institution’, a rush to catch up with friends who might have left them in the village and, as such, would want to read what their compatriots are reading, without guidance and counselling. The resultant effect is poor academic performance, as this conflicts with their ability and interests
Added are the challenges posed by the diversified curriculum that compels the demands of individuals in school to increase the number of subjects or courses. By implication, individuals with such academic problems need more information about the subject/courses to be read, their abilities,and other future demands of the courses in order to reorganise their academic and vocational life goals.
The growing needs of youth in the country also culminate in the call for the establishment of counselling services in our schools. As Okon (1984) observed, the developmental needs of youths, which include attaining individuality, making progress towards an organised personality pattern, developing a philosophy of life, achieving a place in society, and maturing plans for future living, among others, have raised the need to plan and coordinate guidance-oriented. Nevertheless, curriculum to meet the needs of individual students could be done continuously from the nursery down to the university levels in the 9-3-4 system of education.
A body with variable personality constellations with different needs and traits populates Nigerian tertiary education. Many students join secret cults, organise dissent, vandalise school properties, and engage in other forms of maladjusted behaviour bordering on examination malpractices. These deviant portrayals make students have defective study habits, resulting in an impairment of the level of academic success they ought to have possessed. Thus, guidance and counselling help to ameliorate the problems of campus unrest and, at the same time, help students develop appropriate study habits and overcome obstacles responsible for their poor performance.
Counsellors will have an increasing impact on the lives that students will have after they leave school. Let’s consider the high rate of automation in the world’s jobs today. This automation and technological change, as Gayman (1972) states, will cause students to change jobs more often and relocate more often. They would update and trade in education for models to remain employable, and they would have to diversify their practical skills to remain competitive. The implications of this technological revolution for the practice of guidance and counselling should not be lip-serviced if the desired development is to take root in our educational system. All potential should be set in motion to ensure survival in an uncertain technological future.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Guidance and counselling services at the university promote personal social planning and programming for students with special learning needs.
The students need to prepare themselves not only academically but also socially in order to gain acceptance into the new community.
It’s also good to know that the undergraduates, even though a good number of them are adults, need guidance if the purpose of their time at the university is to be achieved.
Also, the majority of students at the university are faced with anxiety and stress; to be able to handle situations like this, they need counselling.
The role of guidance and counselling in tertiary institutions is to bring about well-guided and properly counselled university undergraduates who will be leaders of tomorrow, because the role of guidance and counselling cannot be overemphasised.
Most university administrators in Nigeria are searching for stability as a way out of crises and a means to restore some lasting tranquilly on campuses. Recently, a dramatic increase in violence and revolutionary behaviour among students has almost attained a high proportion throughout the world. Guidance and counselling services are needed to find lasting solutions to some problems that have plagued institutions of learning for a very long time.
Students need counselling programmes as a result of these unruly behaviours. In other words, university undergraduates need help to resolve their home, social, academic, health, emotional, vocational, financial, and religious problems. The undergraduates at this level are made to understand the nature and complexity of their problems and find better means of solving them.
Fresh students appear to be plagued by 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 a counselling program/support, they will feel inferior and be defeated in 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 school.
Values espoused by other students are social climate, course of study, study conditions, and degree of freedom, and adjustment to these differences often results in crises of some sort. The crisis can be averted if guidance and counselling services are made available to this category of students at the point of entering the university.
Since counselling aims at the total development of the individual person, it also helps students find spiritual and ethical measuring in life and helps them live in harmony with the other members of the university community. The inculcation of ethical values through guidance and counselling services will go a long way towards curbing irrational behaviours among university undergraduates. Effective counselling services at the university will constrain students from rebellion against the established rules of their school’s organisation and the destruction of school properties.
The student’s aspiration should be brought into balance with the goals of their educational institutions and those of their surrounding community.
Denga (2003) thinks that the need for guidance and counselling in our educational system is increasingly pressing as educational, economic, technological, social, and ideological advancements are being made. Each student will need to be helped to strengthen his abilities to make meaningful and realistic choices and to face problems encountered in society.
According to Oladele (2007), no matter how good and well-constructed an educational policy may be, if guidance and counselling are not given priority and made an integral part of the system, it cannot succeed. Guidance and counselling services within the framework of education have the potential to help an individual realistically examine his/her beliefs and values within the comprehensive nature of the university setup. Only good guidance and counselling services can help the undergraduate through social adjustment to take the right decisions and understand himself and his world.
The importance of guidance and counselling services among undergraduates is glaring and inevitable. The services are veritable instruments for achieving success in and out of school. As revealed by findings and conducted by a number of Nigerian scholars, among whom are Adugbo (2000), Denga (2003), Allolla (2004), and Bello (2007), guidance and counselling services are yet to take off effectively in Nigerian schools generally due to some problems that are yet to be addressed properly.
These problems include inadequate personnel (counsellors), a lack of materials and facilities for effective guidance services, a lack of finance, inadequate time allocated to guidance and counselling services in schools, and an unhealthy perception of the school head, counsellor, students, and parents.
The need for guidance and counselling services amongst Nigerian university students cannot be compromised if the universities must actualize the goals for which they were established. So it is important for the universities to properly design counselling services to interpret the goals of the constitution of the students and their families in terms of their ability to satisfy students’ educational, vocational, social, and personal needs. Also, it is important for the achievement of academic goals and aspirations at the university.
Statement of the Problem
The following are some of the problems that will make university undergraduates face a lot of worry:
- Emotional stress
- Victimisation from lecturers
- People and social needs
- Indecent dressing
- Examination malpractice
- Peer group influence, e.g drinking, smoking, cultism, etc
- Financial insecurity (lack of finance)
- Sexual harassment
- Addiction to social networking sites like Facebook, 2Go, and Twitter, to mention but a few.
These problems have eaten deep into the fabric of the university and, as such, have a negative effect on the standard of graduates. However, it is the researcher’s concern that this ill attitude is affecting the quality of university graduates in Nigeria; therefore, urgent attention is needed. This study will fill the obvious lack of research in this area.
Purpose of the Study
The general purpose of the study is to determine the need for guidance and counselling services among students at Ambrose Alli University in Ekpoma.
The specific objectives of this study are as follows:
To identify the need for university students to seek guidance and counselling services.
To find out strategies for providing effective guidance services for university students.
To ascertain the need for guidance and counselling services in Nigerian universities.
Research Questions
- What are the common social vices among students at Ambrose Alli University?
- What are the peculiar problems of female students at Ambrose Alli University?
- What are the unique problems facing male students at Ambrose Alli University?
- What are the unique problems facing male students at Ambrose Alli University?
- Is there a need for guidance and counselling services for students at Ambrose Alli University?
- Does Ambrose Alli University management have a guidance and counselling service unit for her students?
Significance of the Study
The study will provide a contemporary and best way for guidance and counselling suitable for undergraduates at the university.
It would help the university administration identify areas of guidance and counselling services that need attention. The study will also aid the curriculum planners in deciding on essential services to be established in the guidance and counselling unit at the university.
Scope of the Study
This study is designed to look into the need for guidance and counselling services among Nigerian university students at Ambrose Alli University in Ekpoma, Edo State. The scope of the study also covers a period of three years (2010–2012).
Limitations of the Study
The limitation of this research work is the difficulty in getting relevant materials. Only a small geographical area is covered in this study. As a result of the small geographical area covered, national generalisation may be limited.
Definition of Terms
Guidance: Advice or information aimed at resolving a problem or difficulty as given by someone in authority (counselor); guidance is derived from the word guide, which also means to direct, help, steer, instruct, etc.
Counselling: This is about helping people who want to change some aspects of their behaviours that are not desirable. Counselling could also be seen as an act of exchanging opinions and ideas; consultation, etc.
Counsellor: This means a person who counsels; an adviser counsellor can also be someone who is trained to help his/her clients with the problems the individual is facing.
Undergraduate: A student at a university or college who has not received a first degree, especially a bachelor’s degree.
