Students’ perception of guidance and counselling services offered in colleges of education in Volta Region, Ghana

Abstract

Many students of tertiary institutions including Colleges of Education are young adults who feel more concerned about getting a job, making a home and continuing higher education. These concerns require proper guidance The general purpose of this study therefore was to find out the perception of students on guidance and counselling services provided to students of colleges of education in Volta region, Ghana. The research design used for the study was the descriptive survey. A sample of 346 students was selected from seven Colleges of Education in the Volta Region, Ghana; using a multi-stage sampling procedure comprising purposive, quota and simple random sampling techniques. Data was collected with a 55-item researcher-made questionnaire which has a reliability coefficient of 0.89. One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Independent sample t-test were used to analyse the four research hypotheses at 0.05 significant level. The study found a statistically significant difference in students’ perception of guidance and counselling services on the basis of class levels. There was no statistically significant difference in respondents’ perception of guidance and counselling needs on the basis of gender. However, there was statistically significant difference in students’ reasons for not patronizing guidance and counselling services on the basis of gender. It was recommended that Colleges of Education should organize detailed orientation programmes for new in-takes to assist them adjust and handle academic and social challenges that new students usually encounter. Also, counsellors should explore and employ attractive strategies to motivate both male and female students to patronize guidance and counselling services.

Keywords: Perceptions, guidance and counselling services, level of study