Perception of secondary school teachers on challenges of domestic helps in Niger State: Counselling implications

Abstract

Domestic helps are children who are involved in a labour attached to a different family in order to generate money, and by this, they are denied freedom of rights to education, safety and health. This paper attempted to investigate the perception of teachers on challenges of domestic helps in Niger State. Two research questions and two hypotheses were raised and tested in the study. The population of the study consisted of all the teachers in secondary schools in Niger State. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select 120 male and female respondents. The study adopted a self-developed-questionnaire titled “Perception of Teachers on Challenges of Domestic Helps Questionnaire” (PTCDHQ). It was validated by 3 experts with a test-re test reliability index of 0.83. It was therefore found suitable for use. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics. Hypotheses 1 and 2 were tested using t-test analysis. The finding showed that many teachers showed positive responses to challenges of domestic helps. The mean scores of items 1-15 range between 3.45-3.91 for public and private schools while that of gender is between 3.18 and 3.97 meaning that the statements on challenges of domestic helps are supported by the respondents. The results of the hypothesis also indicated that there were no significant differences among male and female respondents on the basis of gender and status. Some of the statements on challenges of domestic helps include little wages, denied of right to education, health and safety, early marriage of teenagers, sexual exploitation HIV/AIDs infections, regular sickness without adequate care, among others. Counselling strategies were presented to address these constraints such as cognitive behaviour therapy and community-based counselling. Conclusion and recommendations were proffered to change the mindset of children and parents towards formal education.