PREDICTIVE EFFECT OF THE PROVISION OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING SERVICES ON ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS ACQUISITION AMONG SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN CALABAR EDUCATION ZONE, CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study predicted the effects of the provision of guidance and counselling services on entrepreneurial skills acquisition among senior secondary school students in Calabar Education Zone, Cross River State, Nigeria. The stratified and simple random sampling techniques were employed to select a sample of 592 SS II students from a population of 5,918 for the study. A questionnaire titled “Provision of Guidance and Counselling Services and Entrepreneurship Skills Acquisition Questionnaire (PGCSESAQ)" developed by the researcher was used in collecting data on six sub-variables involved in the study. The reliability estimates of the sub-scales ranged from .71 to .83 which showed that the instrument was reliable for data collection. The Multiple Regression statistical analysis was used to test the hypotheses at .05 level of significance and 591 degrees of freedom. The results of the statistical analysis from the hypotheses showed that; counselling services such as information service, inventory service, referral service, follow-up service, remedial service and orientation service respectively, significantly influences entrepreneurship skills acquisition among secondary school students in Calabar education zone, Cross River State, Nigeria. It was recommended among others that school counsellors should create awareness on information service in order to enhance employable skills acquisition among secondary school students. Government and non-governmental organizations should organize education programmes in secondary schools such as soap making, catering service and cloth making for students to acquire higher knowledge that will help them to be self-employed. Teachers should emphasis on follow-up service in order to help students with special needs to develop employable skills