Guidance and Counselling Services and Career Choice for Personal Development of Secondary School Students in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study’s main purpose was to examine the influence of guidance and counselling services on career choice for personal development of secondary school students in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. A descriptive survey design was adopted to obtain data using a self-constructed questionnaire titled Guidance-Counselling Services and Career Choice for Personal Development of Secondary School Students Questionnaire (GCSCCPDSSQ). The target population consisted of 42,762 individuals, including 6,225 teachers/counsellors and 36,537 senior secondary students. A sample size of 380 was determined using the Morgan and Krejcie (1970) table. The study used Simple random and purposive sampling methods. The instrument’s validity was carried out by 3 experts through review, and reliability was confirmed using Cronbach’s Alpha, yielding a coefficient of 0.73. Data analysis made used of frequency counts, percentages, tables, and opinion poll for the research questions, while the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) was used to test the hypotheses. Findings indicated that; Personal counselling plays a meaningful role in supporting informed career decisions. Additionally, other components of guidance and counselling services have a notable impact on students’ career development. It was recommended that there is need to integrate career counselling into the secondary school curriculum to enhance vocational and technical education, more awareness campaign should be done for parents and stakeholders about the value of these services, and enhancing support from government through policies that promote personal capacity building through vocational and technical education; improved counsellors’ salaries, provide essential facilities, and promote continuous training for counsellors and teachers in effective guidance practices.