ABSTRACT
This descriptive survey study sought to determine the Guidance Counsellors’ career
awareness creation role and acceptability of entrepreneurship education of secondary school
students in Okpokwu Education Zone of Benue State, Nigeria. Four research questions and
two null hypotheses guided the study. A total of 6,256 students from 31 public and 37 private
secondary schools constituted the population from which a sample of 480 students was
randomly selected using multi-stage sampling technique. Two instruments designed by the
researcher and titled: Counsellors’ Career Awareness Creation and Entrepreneurship
Education Questionnaire (CCACEEQ) and Entrepreneurship Education Acceptability Level
Questionnaire (EEALQ) were used for data collection. This instrument were face validated
by three experts, trial tested on thirty students outside the study area and internal consistency
ascertained using Cronbach Alpha statistical method. The analysis gave the overall alpha
coefficient values of 0.85 and 0.88 respectively which indicated the reliability of the
instruments. Mean and Standard deviation analysis were used to answer research questions
while t-test tested at 0.05 probability level was used to test the postulated null hypothesis.
Findings revealed that Guidance Counsellors’ career awareness creation roles were
obtainable in Okpokwu education zone public and private secondary schools and the students
have positive perception of entrepreneurship education. However, the students indicated that
entrepreneurship education was rarely acceptable to them. In addition, the results showed no
significant difference between the mean scores of students in public and private secondary
schools on Guidance Counsellors’ career awareness creation roles and perceptions of
entrepreneurship education. Base on these findings, some counselling implications were
highlighted and recommendations made.
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
In recent times, the problem of global economic recession and its
negative impacts on the well-being of citizens of nations, Nigeria inclusive
has been drawing the attention of researchers scholars and policy makers. In
Nigeria, this situation has posed a lot of challenges such as increased youths
unemployment, violence attacks, stealing and kidnapping activities by
youths to list but some (Amazue & Okoli, 2004). According to Dike (2009)
about 80% of Nigerian youths are unemployed while about 10% of the
employed are underemployed. Amazue and Okoli (2004) remarked that
youths’ unemployment tends to account for their involvement in social
crimes and over dependence on government for employment. Implicitly, it
could adduced that curbing these problems calls for proper guidance and
counseling of school students and retooling of Nigeria educational policy to
incorporate entrepreneurship education. No doubt, Obunadike (2013)
remarked that when youths are properly guided and counselled, as well as
equipped with entrepreneurial skills their over dependency on government
for employment will reduce and they would become more of employers of
labour than seekers of jobs.
Guidance and counselling are two separate terms though the former
precedes the later. Guidance is a range of organized activities designed in
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schools to students learn and make appropriate choices in schools (Ezeji,
2011). Similarly, Owuamanam (2003) defines guidance as involving
activities which are designed to help students acquire information, plan and
implement programmes and enhance their decision making process in
educational or vocational and personal social matters. Contextually,
guidance is a helping service given to individuals to enable them achieve
their potentials and be useful to themselves and the world in general.
Guidance is preventive in nature in the sense that it aimed at preventing
students from groping in darkness with regards to educational and
occupational challenges. When an individual is properly guided and
counselled, the individual would be able to evade or overcome unnecessary
problems when faced with such in life (Igwe, 2013).
Counselling is an integral element of guidance. Nwoje (2001) views it
as an integral part of guidance which provides the forum for interaction
between a counsellor and counsellee. According to Uzoeshi (2004)
counselling is a process of assisting a client to overcome problems and
become happier and more effective individual in the environment.
Operationally, counselling is defined as a helping relationship between
counsellor and counsellees through which the counsellor helps counsellees
(students) to maximize their potencials by providing career information, and
awareness creation of job opportunities in the millennium world of work.