THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF GUIDANCE IN NIGERIA

What is today known as “traditional guidance” had been the means by which Nigerians used in solving their problems before the commencement of organized or formal guidance services. Nigerians are known to be their brothers, keepers who feel concerned in seeking means of helping one another out of problem situations.


The instruments of helping people to overcome their social, personal educational and occupational problems are the priests, teachers, principals, elders, fortune tellers, priests, imams, title holders and friends.

These “guidance person” used their wealth of knowledge, the confidence on their age experiences and status to advise the individual in his problem. As a result of recent social, political, economic, educational and technological changes in Nigerian peoples’ problems today are taking more complicated form. These changes have rendered the traditional guidance mechanism grossly inadequate.

THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF GUIDANCE IN NIGERIA

In recognizing the need for expert advice to students ins secondary schools in the choice of their careers and subjects, the federal ministry of labour organized routine visit to secondary schools in different parts of the country. For examples, as far back as 1947, representatives form the ministry of labour were sent to Bendel state (then part of the western region) to give talks to form five students on careers and subject choice.
It is generally accepted that in Nigeria, the organized or formal counseling started in 1959 at St. Therese’s college, Oke Ado in Ibadan by seeking admission for further studies so that the students will have no problems on looking for employment and adjusting to the hard conditions in the society after leaving school by some reverend sisters out sympathy and concern for the product of their school. Consequently, the sisters invited twenty educated people from the Ibadan community who where in different professions and therefore knew more about the emerging world of work than the students and the sisters. This were to advice the sisters on how to place sixty of their out-going students of that year in various jobs. Fifty four out of the sixty students benefited from the expert advice latter in 1962 came together to form the Ibadan careers council. Some other careers councils of cities sprang up in different parts of the country (Enugu, kano, kaduan etc) which latter emerged to form the nucleus of the Nigerian careers council published a journal known as CAREERS. The activities  of the council helped in no small measure in the growth and development of guidance and counseling in Nigeria.

Another significant event that boosted the spread and development of guidance in Nigeria was a visit to Sweden, France and U.S.A in 1962 by standardized psychological tests used for counseling in Nigeria. Prominent among them are the student problem inventory (SPI), vocational interest inventory (vii); motivation for occupation preference scale (MOPS) and study habit inventory (SHI) professor J. O. Akinboy’s Adolescent personal data inventory (APDI) is equally useful for guidance and counseling today in Nigeria.

Consequent upon the various guidance activities going on in various parts of the country, a guidance and career unit was established by the federal ministry of education in 1961 directed by education officers. The unit was temporarily suspended as a result of civil war in Nigeria in 1966. In 1967, the then Midwest (now Bendel) ministry of education set up a committee on the issue of counseling in the secondary schools within the state. The implementation lingered till 1872 when an inspector of education was appointed to take responsibility for vocational and education guidance in the state secondary schools. Adugbo (1980) reveals that by 1975, there was scarcely any secondary school in bendel state without a career master mistress even though many of them were in active.

By the late 1970s the governments had already recognized the importance of guidance and counseling in the educational, economic and social life of the nation. In the 3rd national development plan (1975-1980), emphasis was laid on the need for guidance and counseling in order to achieve the man power needs of the nation. The government realized that for education to be complete, the beneficiaries must have a good sense of self fulfillment.

This particular  feeling must go with the right choice of career the absence of career counseling in our educational and training systems with adequate federal and state government encouragement. This was similarly re-echoed in the National policy on education (1977) that in the view of the apparent ignorance of many young people about careers prospects, and in view of personality maladjustment among school children careers officers and counselors will be appointed in post-primary institutions. Since qualified personnel in this category is scarce, government will continue to make provisions for the training of interested teachers in guidance and counseling.

The counseling association of Nigeria (CASSON) was launched on 11th November, 1976 with professor Olu Makinde as the foundation president in 1977 the association was affiliated to the American personnel and guidance association (APGA) CAN also published a journal called counselor.

Sixteen Nigerian education officials and educators they were charged with the responsibility of studying the educational system of these countries in order to find out the elements of such educational system that would be adaptable tot eh Nigerian situation in order to improve the country’s educational system one of the key recommendations of the group was the establishment of comprehensive schools, for Nigeria whose functions would be to channel pupils into courses of study suitable to their individual abilities and interest geared towards the need of the country. They further recommended that proper guidance and counseling was of fundamental importance and that many Nigerian teachers be trained in vocational guidance since each comprehensive school would have at least one guidance officer.

Almost in line with the groups recommendations for school adapting to the needs of the child and society through comprehensive secondary schools, the Aiyetoro comprehensive high school was established in 1963 as a demonstration school. It has a Harvard USAID staff (a trained counselor) who started a guidance programme in the school based on their abilities aptitudes and interest using some standardized tests latter, more Harvard/USAID counselors were sent to Aiyetoro High school to solidify guidance programme in the school and to help in training more Nigerians in vocational and educational guidance.

The story of the history and development of guidance in Nigeria would be incomplete without mentioning the establishment and contribution of the test development and research office (TEDRO) a branch of the West African examination council (WAEC) TEDRO was established in December, 1963 charged with the construction and analysis of psychometric instruments. When established, its functions were stated as follows.
i.                    The development and administration of manpower selection tests for educational governmental, industrial and commercial use,
ii.                 The development of guidance techniques and tests for use in schools and other government institutions.
iii.               To conduct and encourage basic and applied research to further the improvement of manpower selection, guidance and other related educational problems.

TEDRO development up to twenty-one internationally standardized aptitude tests adapted to the Nigerian and West African conditions used for various selections into technical skilled jobs, mechanical oriented jobs, clerical jobs and evaluation of academic performance at secondary and commercial levels. Many schools, ministries and organization used the TEDRO test to counsel their students, workers for various courses of study and jobs. For example, the Aiyetoro comprehensive high school for screening and streaming of students the then western state ministry of education for lower forms of all secondary institutions in the state.
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