The Effect Of Academic Performance And Counselling On Choices Of Selected Students In Bendel State

ABSTRACT

Since some secondary schools are known to offer guidance services to their students in Bendel State, it is logical to expect that certain benefits are likely to be derived by the beneficiaries. Already, there is a growing awareness in Nigeria about the usefulness of these services but there is a dearth of concrete date for assessing the role fulfilled by counselling in the growth and development of secondary school students. It is also known that some Nigerians do not believe in the need for specialized guidance services. The argument put forward by such people is that if effective teaching is occurring and the students are performing well academically, all the necessary classroom activities for the school child in terms of guidance are automatically provided.

The Federal Government has recently placed a high value on 'choice' in all the developmental phases of the school child and guidance services are considered useful in the process of choice-making This study was therefore designed to determine the relative effects of counselling and academic performance on the choices of West African School Certificate (WASC) sub- jects, occupations and post secondary institutions by secondary school students. Ten hypotheses were formulated and tested.