EFFECTS OF COUNSELING SERVICES ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL (EDUCATION PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Academic performance of Nigerian secondary school students have been a thing of worry because it degrading in value day in day out and these have being as a result of many factors that have been militating against it and all these abstract factors could be uproot or avoided in order to attain academic excellence through the proper placement of regular and well planned counseling services in our various secondary schools.
Counseling as the third force in education along with instruction, is an integral part of educational system. Counseling programmes for secondary school student are designed to address the physical, emotional, social, vocational and academic difficulties of adolescent students. This is to complement learning in the classroom and also enhance academic performance/achievement of students. Counseling plays a vital role in preventing educational, personal, social, mental emotional and other similar problem among secondary school students.
Ministry of education and principals of schools are aware of the heavy reliance placed on counseling services for most aspect of new 9-3-4 system to actually succeed. These services, counseling services, referral services, evaluation, follow-up, consultancy and research services. As a vital component of any type and any level of education the absence of non utilization of these system, again the third goal of the educational services in the present day school system has led to the unprecedented rise in the crime wave, violence among students, fuelled cultism, wrong career choice, and wrong subject combination among other issues.
Counseling is one of the educational services. Educational services as contained in the National Policy of Education (NPE) (2004) are to “facilitate the implementation of the educational policy, the attainment of policy goals and the promotion of effectiveness of educational services is to “make learning experience more meaningful for children”. Based on these goals, the counseling activities in schools are beneficial because what the counselors working with students in secondary school guide them thoroughly to help them succeed in their educational pursuit.
According to Okobrah and Okorodudu (2006) counseling is encompassed by activities of relevant services and also processes of helping persons within and outside the school, to achieve their full potentialities in their emotional, moral, social, academic and vocational developments. In this paper, the focus is on the achievement of full academic potentials through the proper utilization of the services of counseling programmes in secondary schools.
Counseling according to Akpon (2010) is “an educational service that seeks to provide the school child opportunity to obtain holistic education development that prepares him for functional life.” Ipaye (2000) sees counseling from educational perspective as those experiences that help pupils to understand themselves, accept themselves and live effectively in their society. Esen (2008) says that counseling is aimed primarily at assisting the receiver to discover his own hidden strengths and ultimately grow in independence.He summarizes the definition of counseling as a systematic and organized educational helping service, professionally given by a professionally trained counselor or therapists to a learner of any age, within or outside the school walls at appropriate level. The essence is to assist him understand himself, situation and environment, discover his interests, potentialities and opportunities in life and learn how best to effectively utilize his assets as well as minimize his weaknesses, to live a maximum productive life.
