Role of Counselling in Reducing School Dropout and Supporting at Risk among Junior Secondary Schools Students in Sokoto Metropolis
1Aliyu Ma’aruf Bello and 2Mukhtar Salihu Nawait
*1&2Department of Counselling Psychology, Faculty of Education, Sokoto State University, Sokoto State, Nigeria. Email: muknawait@gmail.com
Abstract
The study examined the role of counselling in reducing school dropout and supporting at risk students of Junior secondary schools in Sokoto Metropolis, Sokoto. It adopted descriptive survey design and the sample size of 245 students and 30 teachers were purposively drown from the population of 108,335students and 3,436 teachers. Two objectives were set with their corresponding hypotheses. Structured questionnaires were used for data collection and data analysis was done using Pearson product moment correlation coefficient tools. The findings revealed a moderate to strong positive relationship between parental socio-economic background and school dropout rate with coefficient of (r-Cal = 0.622) and p-value of 0.000. Additionally, school dropout demonstrates a positive relationship with a coefficient of (r-Cal = 0.58) and the p-value of 0.000 as it falls below p < 0.05. Based on the findings, the study recommends recruiting and training qualified counsellors, implementing early warning systems, increasing funding, strengthening parent–school collaboration, integrating technology, and establishing robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks to achieve the desired outcome.
Keywords
Counselling, Students, School Dropout, Risk, Junior Secondary Schools
Reference
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). Greenwood.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard University Press.
Chilota, J. (2024). Educational research methods and statistics for social sciences. Lagos: Spectrum Academic Press.
Collis, J., & Hussey, R. (2018). Business research: A practical guide for undergraduate and postgraduate students (5th ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.
Dikki, A. (2016). Parental background and students’ academic performance in Nigeria: Questionnaire development and validation. Sokoto: Sokoto State University Press.
Fall, A.-M., & Roberts, G. (2011). High school dropouts: Interactions between social context, self-perceptions, school engagement, and student dropout. Journal of Adolescence, 35(4), 787–798. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2011.10.003
National Population Commission. (2024). Education statistics report: Sokoto State. Abuja: Government of Nigeria.
Nworgu, B. G. (2024). Educational research: Basic issues and methodology (5th ed.). Nsukka: University Trust Publishers.
Oparaduru, C. (2023). Counselling intervention and school retention: Strategies for supporting at-risk students in Nigeria. Journal of Educational Psychology and Counselling, 15(2), 101–115.
Research Advisor. (2016). Sample size table for research projects. Retrieved from https://www.research-advisors.com
Tinto, V. (1993). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition (2nd ed.). University of Chicago Press.
UNESCO. (2024). Educational disparities and school dropout rates in West Africa: Policy recommendations. Paris: UNESCO Publishing.