Abstract

The study examined the relevance of counselling service both in terms of availability and usage in the choice of career as perceived by secondary school students in Lagos metropolis. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study and were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population for the study consisted of all senior secondary school students in Lagos metropolis. Simple random and convenience sampling were used to select 172 students from four public secondary schools in the metropolis. Two hundred (200) copies of the researchers designed questionnaires were distributed but 172 copies were retrieved from the respondents representing 93.5 per cent return rate. The instrument used for data collection was Guidance and Counselling Assessment Scale (GCAS). The data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, percentage and Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. The study found out that most students are aware of the presence of counsellors in their schools, however fewer students who claimed awareness of the counselling office had visited the counselling office for guidance and counselling services. Also, the study observed a positive and significant relationship between school counselling unit and the selection of department by students. A significant relationship existed between school counselling services and perceived relevance in the choice of career by students. One of the recommendations given was that counselling unit should be established in all schools and students should be enlightened and encouraged to visit the schools’ counselling offices.