INFLUENCE OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING SERVICES ON CAREER CHOICE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the influence of guidance and counselling services on career choice of secondary school students in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State. Three research questions were raised to guide the study. The study employed a descriptive survey research design. The population of the study comprised of 5, 214 Senior Secondary School Students across twelve (12) public Senior Secondary Schools located in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State. The sample size of the study comprised of 339 Senior Secondary School Students in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State. Self-structured questionnaire was used for data collection which was subjected to face validity by the researcher’s supervisor and one other expert. The reliability of the instrument yielded 0.780, 0.801, and 0.750 for the three subscales of the research instrument. The data collected were analyzed using mean (x) and standard deviation (SD). Results of the study showed that there is a high extent to which guidance and counselling services have an influence on secondary school students in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State. It was also found that career choice of secondary school students is influenced by guidance and counselling services to a high extent. The study therefore concluded that guidance and counselling are essential in secondary schools especially in the aspect of career choice of students. The study further recommended that teachers and students should be made to be aware of the immense benefit of guidance and counseling by the school counselor/management. Also, guidance and counseling should be given a period in the school time table so as to encourage students to participate in career choice making.