Guidance and Counselling Services in Nigeria PDF

**3.1.6 The need for Guidance** **and counselling Services today** The need for guidance and counselling services in our schools has become evident from calls at different fora. These calls have been made at CASSON's national conferences over the years. The general public, school establishments and...

**3.1.6 The need for Guidance** **and counselling Services today** The need for guidance and counselling services in our schools has become evident from calls at different fora. These calls have been made at CASSON's national conferences over the years. The general public, school establishments and governments have realized that a school child should be assisted to understand himself in his present situation, so that he can plan his future in the light of his needs, interests, abilities and limitations. The need for an educational service that would provide an accepting, trusting, empathic and threat-free atmosphere in which children learn to discuss openly what worries and upsets them; define their educational and career goals; acquire the essential and interpersonal and social skills for effective group interaction requires guidance (Denga, 1983). Furthermore, educational services that will develop children's aptitudes, observe what the children want to do, what they are fit for, what their behavior patterns are and how best these patterns can be developed have all along been a yawning need for guidance service. Finally, the democratic stance of our constitution which posits that each child should be provided with equal and free opportunities to rise to the maximum of their potentials as human beings posits another need for guidance services in our schools. In present day Nigeria, the Nigerian school child takes as - many as fourteen subjects in the primary and junior secondary. This calls for guidance on how to cope with such a vast array of learning situations along with the multi---cultural setting of' his classroom. **\ \ 3.2 Historical Development of Guidance and Counselling** **3.2.1 America** Between 1890 and 1920, America went through a period of turmoil because of the growth of population in the cities and technological advancement. This brought social and economic inequalities, consequently, the need for reform, correction and moral rectitude became evident. Also, many immigrants into American found it difficult to cope with American life. Crime became rampant during this period. Consequently, in 1909 a guidance bureau was established by Frank Parsons (frequently referred to as the father of vocational guidance in America) to advise young men and women and to help them find jobs. The activities of this bureau, and other philanthropic individuals in America provided the need for a central body that would co-ordinate the various helping services --- hence the formation of a National Vocational Guidance Association in 1910. According to Kolo (1992) bulletins by the NVGA were published in 1915 aimed at propagating the activities of the association to the entire American society. This led various organizations to become more interested. In 1952, a new name that would bring all such helping organizations under one umbrella was initiated hence the Association of Personnel and Guidance Association. This name continued until 1986 when it was changed to American Association of Counselling and Development. The following factors contributed to the development of guidance in America: 1. The idea for guidance service was initiated and developed initially by philanthropists who invested their energy, time, finance and material resources. 2. Religious organizations later joined the crusade by providing moral guidance services to the people. The co-operation of the various religious groups, with the individuals interested in the needs of the less privileged, served as a moral booster to the programme of guidance in America. 3. Federal and states governments in America later became interested hence they gave their support to the private organizations rendering guidance services at first. Later, the governments, apart from assisting the private agencies in their effort to provide guidance services, set up their own guidance centers as from 1938. These centers complemented the already established ones by both individuals and religious organizations. The government did not take possession of the already established centers by the private organizations. 4. The national disgrace witnessed by America when Russia first landed in space in 1958 motivated the government to commit \$60 million to the education sector to search for talents who will help in the development of America technologically to surpass Russia. Psychologists and Canada personnel were given the singular challenge to identify and assist such individuals with abilities to pursue such abilities to the optimum in order to reduce the effects of the 1958 episode. 5. National Educational Acts promulgated in America also encouraged the development of guidance services. These acts were: 1. The 1958 National Defense Education Act --- This was an offshoot of the shame America experienced when Russia first landed in space 2. The 1964 Manpower Development Act --- This had some vocational guidance implications 3. The 1966 Mental Health Act; and 4. The 1976 Career Education Incentive Act These Acts were all intended to expand the scope of guidance services in America. They also expanded the development and construction of new psychological tests that would identify individual's special ability areas. **3.2.2 Historical Development of Guidance and Counselling in Nigeria** Nigerian educational system became formalized in a document a decade after independence. Educational services were given by philanthropists, missionaries and communities. The colonial government gave an education that produced literate middle level clerical workers in the service. Consequently, very little was known or done centrally to direct young students. However, in 1957, a group of Reverend Sisters in St. Theresa College, Ibadan organized a career guidance service for their graduating students aimed at: 1. Assisting the graduating form five students from the College in knowing the types of jobs available to them after graduation 2. Making the students realize the qualifications necessary for entering such jobs and to get insight into what specific duties they will be performing on the job. The sisters, invited into the school for career talks to the students, different job specialists at the end of the year. These invitees were tagged career advisers. The career talks became permanent feature in St. Theresa because they were beneficial to students. Other schools within Ibadan municipal started initiating the career talks earlier started at St TJ College. Since many schools in Ibadan Municipality embraced gainfully the career talks, the Ibadan Career Council was formed in 1961. This spiced up other schools within the Western Region and Lagos. For example, a modern guidance service was started in Aiyetoro Comprehensive School in 1963. Earlier in 1962, the Federal Ministry of Education sent delegates to survey the educational system of France, Sweden and USA. The 16 members' delegates reported back that guidance services were part of the educational service of the countries visited. This led the ministry to establish a child guidance committee in 1964. The first seminar on guidance was also held in 1964. In 1967 the name of the Ibadan Careers Council was changed to Nigerian Careers Council, meaning that guidance had become a national concern. A journal was also established in the same year. Also in 1967, career masters were posted to Federal Government Schools. Between 1970 and 1976, guidance was boosted due to the following factors: - 1. [The returnee professionals in the area of guidance and counselling] started coming back from overseas training. These include Essien, Makinde, Pant Mallum and Gesinde to mention a few. They were instrumental to the establishment of counselling association of Nigeria. 2. [The Universal Primary Education scheme]: The UPE scheme was launched in 1976. it created opportunities for all categories of children to go to school in large numbers. The need for an educational service that would screen, sort out and place students into appropriate combinations and colleges of higher learning became obvious. Nigerian counsellors were called upon to render guidance services that would help the UPE scheme succeed. This was done with limited success but created an obvious landmark on the social sand of guidance lime in Nigeria. 3. [The 6-3-3-4 system of education:] The system came in force in I 972. This meant that children would spend Six years in the primary school, Three years in the junior secondary. Three years in the senior secondary and Four years in the university. The system placed value on the vocational training of youth. This made it imperative for counsellors to fish out vocational skills for teachers to enable them transmit learning to students. 4. [Continuous assessment and guidance:] The new system of education placed a central emphasis on continuous assessment. Counsellors and psychometric skills were once again challenged to put their skills to practice in order to facilitate the implementation of the new system. 5. [The Role of (TEDRO) Aptitude Tests]: The Test Development and Research Office (TEDRO), a department of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) was established in 1963 under the title "Nigerian Aptitude Testing Unit". The unit produced more than 21 aptitude tests which have been used in Kaduna State for appraisal and placement (Denga, l982). The need for professional skills in the use of tests for guidance has encouraged the production of more counsellors. 6. [The need to tackle nationwide technical illiteracy]: The current emphasis on technical and scientific manpower, demand for effective measures to combat the current technical illiteracy which weakens a country's economic, educational and military position. This need has urged counsellors to employ various skills of appraising students' potentials and placing them in technical fields for benefit to the individual and the nation. 7. [Economic and human resource needs]: The Nigerian economy became diverse with the advent of industrialization. The need for human resources with diverse skills to exploit and satisfy the diverse needs became evident. Guidance services provided the timely skills to develop technical skills to make young employees employable and to maintain this status regardless of economic and social changes that would inevitably affect them. 8. [The establishment of a professional association known as Counselling Association of Nigeria (CASSON).] This was done through the rigours of people like Professors Olu Makinde, Para Mallum and Samuel Adebayo Gesinde. The association was formerly launched on December 1, 1976 at the University of Ibadan with Professor Olu Makinde as the first President. The association has boosted the development of guidance services in Nigeria. Thus among its activities are: i. The provision of guidance services in our schools which is also inserted in the national policy on education ii. Making guidance a compulsory course in teacher training colleges iii. Specifying the counsellor's roles and duties in the school which has been published in the 1991 CASSON's booklet iv. Organizing and running potent workshops for Federal and state Ministries of Education to highlight various important issues that promote understanding of guidance among the stakeholders v. Registering all professionally trained counsellors in the country and training them in additional skills at nationally rotated conferences.