CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

Counselling as one part of the entire guidance programme, ordinarily means consultation, discussion, deliberation, advice, exchange of ideas or a process of decision making. In fact, it is a service designed to help individual analyse himself by relating his capacity achievement interest weakness and modes of adjustment (Makinde, 1988).

Odebunmi (1991) define counselling as one part of the guidance programme and a relationship of one to one or a group of twelve people which normally deals with personal and emotional issues more extensively but usually characterised by privacy and confidentiality.

Counselling services can be said to be as old as mankind. God is rightly considered to be the first and everlasting counsellor of mankind. However, guidance and counselling in the twentieth century phenomenon as a discipline and a professional service only started in American in 1908. This was when Frank Parson founded a vocational bureau at Boston, Massachusetts.

The history of modern guidance and counselling services in Nigeria started in 1959, when some reverend sisters at Saint Theresa's Ibadan invited about twenty professionals to help advice and place about sixty students into various jobs.

In 1975, the catholic sisters group which have a well need to form a larger association felt that job placement and information were not the only essentials in life of man. This led to the launching of the Counselling Association of Nigeria (CAN) in December 11 1976 making Dr. Olu Mankinde (now a professor) as the first President of the association. The journal of the association was "the counsellor".

Since 1972 till date many Nigerian universities started to offer guidance and counselling as a course to train counsellors for secondary schools, colleges, etc. in 1981, the new national Policy on education, the federal government saw the need for guidance and counselling services in secondary schools when it was stated among other things that counselling services will be provided in all schools which gave room for the 6-3-3-4 educational system credence to counselling of secondary school students.

Indiscipline is a common human vices in the secondary schools of our society in Nigeria, rural and urban communities and schools, a steady increase in the rate level of indiscipline has been observed. These are major societal evils which beset the citizens especially the young adolescents in the secondary school in their effort to achieve their life goals.

Some of this social problems are generated within the school environment and promoted by factors which are inherent in the society, social problem syndrome is as old as man himself which can be dated back to the origin of man in the garden of Eden when man look down on God's rule for their life and went for their own selfish desires. It moved down to the era of Cain and Abel when Cain became jealous of Abel's sacrifice and killed him. So it continued till the present day which are posing difficult challenges on man's existence on earth.

Indiscipline as one of the social problem in school is ranked as a major problem among students of secondary school in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State. Disruption of behaviour is a concern to the schools and parents and also to the fellow students whose education may be adversely affected. Therefore it cannot be ignored and the school counsellor must tailor a well understandable sound behaviour and discipline policy.

According to a report by New straits times on August 2005, an average of seven schools children are arrested every day and three of them are on average of between 13 and 15 years. This numbers are almost to the level of juvenile delinquents who are school dropouts. Based on the report, school children constitute almost half of all 18 who were arrested for crimes since 2003 and were involved in almost one percent of all criminal cases in 2002 and 2003. (Nigerian union of Teaching Profession NUT, 2005).

The social deviant behaviour could be in form of verbal abuse, offensive language against teachers and other students possessing of weapons, supplying or using illegal drugs, intrusions into the school classrooms by students with the intention of confronting teachers, etc. all of this have become a case of study that needed immediate attention. And as the problem now is alarming and jeopardizing the administration of the school especially. And I believe the findings of the study will emit some powerful rays of light to rectify the situation.

Statement of the Problem

From the background of the study, it has been shown that counselling as a service of helping people out of their problems cannot be undermined in secondary school education system in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State. Though, it has been faced with a lot of challenges by the school organogram over the years by not allowing the counsellors to perform their responsibilities.

As a result of this negligence in Ethiope East secondary school, indiscipline in conjunction with other social problems has been on increase which is not allowing the school to attain its leve of development which has become a problem of interest in this work. Through the following statement of the problem:

1. Lack of awareness of the role of counselling in the school system.
2. Shortage of trained personnel
3. Inadequate publicity of the counselling services
4. Lack of awareness of the role of counselling in the secondary school system.
5. Poor attitudes of school staff personnel and parents towards counselling services
6. Inability of the Nigerian national policy on education to provide for the specific role counselling should play in the school setting

Research Questions

This study focuses on the role counselling should play in preventing or reducing of indiscipline as a problem in the secondary school of Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State. Due to the uprising of this social problems in the school system with its adverse effect in the school system which to some extent has been caused by the neglect of the role of the school counsellors. This research work has been prompted to observed and suggest possible way of proffering solution.

This approach is chosen with the hope of presenting some information, educational and counselling service to this social deviant behaviour of students in the Ethiope East secondary schools.

To relate this to the present problem adequately, the following questions will be researched in this work:

1. To what extent does counselling role play in reducing indiscipline among female secondary school students?
2. To what extent does counselling role play in reducing indiscipline among male secondary school students?
3. To what extent does counselling role play in reducing indiscipline in junior secondary school?
4. To what extent does counselling role play in reducing indiscipline among senior secondary school students?
5. To what extent does counselling role play in reducing indiscipline in rural schools?
6. To what extent does counselling role play in reducing indiscipline in urban schools?

Purpose of the Study

It has been an age-long established concept that guidance and counselling services is the mother of traditional and western education. This means that there is no programme we can mention in our secondary school without involving counselling and guidance services as an element that can deal with students maladaptive social behaviours such as indiscipline in achieving educational goals and objectives,

The establishment of more secondary school in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State especially during the era of the universal basic education (UBE) has really increased students population in the area. Based on this increment, indiscipline, deviant behaviours in school has also been on the increasing side which has made guidance and counselling a means of resolving this behaviour problems and also facilitating student's right decision making process in the school system.

Therefore, the counsellor here is seen as an agent of change and information who has a role of putting together the student's behaviour, school problems and propounding solutions to them through individual or group counselling.

Significance of the Study

There is an important need to look at the deviant behaviours, (indiscipline) among secondary school students of Ethiope East Local Government Area School which will invariably raise a number of issues to be sorted out by the counselling services in the school administration.

An average secondary school student in Ethiope East Local Government Area falls generally within the average age of 10-19 and this stage of developmental change is characterise with conflicts of life. At this stage when their physiological changes coupled with psychological and social factors combines to make the period particularly critical for the individual also.

Therefore this research work is aimed at profiting its local government secondary school students, the school staff personnel and the entire area people in benefiting from the different counselling services and more also in changing students maladaptive way of behaviour to acceptable ones. It will also make the school to know more about the role of counsellor in the secondary school.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The scope of the study has been designed to look into the role of counselling services in preventing indiscipline among secondary school students in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State. And more also how this counselling services can help in prevention of the deviant behaviour (indiscipline) already existing in the school system.

For convenience, secondary school in the local government area to be used to gather information to reveal the objectives of the concern of this research. The misconception of the role of counsellors in secondary schools and high increase in rate of this social problems (indiscipline) in the school has prompt the researcher to limit the area of coverage to this level or stage of child's education.

Through this work, one could derive answer to the solution of this social problems (indiscipline) prevailing in our secondary schools and also gar the inner spirit of the society, government, students, school personnel/officials and parents to welcome and appreciate the role counselling plays in adjustment of their children wellbeing.

Limitation of the Study

The progress of this research work so far has been tempered with and delayed in starting on time due to the fact that the researcher could not find or lay hand on any previous research work topic of this kind to replicate. It has also been delayed from starting on time due to the researcher counselling practicum six(6) weeks exercise.

And also due to shortage of financial power, this work has also been delayed because the researcher has to take his time to sort for money to access the internet for some assistance.

Despite this limitations, the researcher did not stop the work but proceeded in working for money to sort for material, gather different textbooks on counselling and social problems in schools and behold this has been started in good faith believing God for every necessary support needed to arrive at the aim/objectives of the work. And also believing God that through this research work supervisor, all other support and correction will be made to attain a high standard conclusion.

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