Ask why guidance and counselling matters and you’ll often get a list of 20 vague benefits. Here’s a shorter answer: what it actually does for students, for schools and for the country, and what the evidence does and doesn’t show.
Guidance and counselling matters because it helps students make sound choices about subjects, courses and careers, deal with personal problems before they derail school, and reach specialist help. Nigerian education policy has backed it since 1981 for these reasons.
This piece is about why it matters. For what guidance and counselling is, read what guidance and counselling means. For how it developed here, read our history of guidance and counselling in Nigeria.
Why it matters for students
Better choices about subjects, courses and careers
Some of the biggest decisions a Nigerian student makes come early. In SS1 you go into a science, arts or commercial class. Then you choose WAEC subjects, and a course and institution for JAMB. Each choice shapes the options that follow.
Guidance helps you make those choices with information rather than guesswork. It follows a logic Frank Parsons set out in 1909: understand your own abilities and interests, understand what different courses and jobs involve, and think carefully about how the two fit. In practice, a counsellor might use interest or aptitude questionnaires, career talks and one-to-one conversations. They can also help you weigh your own wishes against your parents’, which is often the hardest part.
Coping with school itself
Guidance isn’t only about the future. It also helps with the school day: settling in as a new student, building study habits, managing exam pressure, and moving from primary to secondary school or from secondary school to university.
Personal and emotional problems
School years are when many mental health problems first show. The World Health Organization estimates that one in seven 10- to 19-year-olds worldwide has a mental health condition. It also notes that anxiety and depression can seriously affect school attendance and schoolwork.
Nigerian studies point the same way:
- In a 2007 study of 1,095 senior secondary students aged 13 to 18, run from Ilesa in Osun State, 6.9% had major depression when assessed by interview. Girls were affected more often than boys.
- In a 2006 study of 1,206 students living in halls at a federal university in western Nigeria, 8.3% met the criteria for a depressive disorder.
These are single studies in particular places, not national rates. But they show why a school needs a trained adult whom students can talk to. A counsellor won’t treat depression on their own; what they can do is notice, listen and make sure the student gets proper help.
A route to specialist help
This is the part people overlook. Referral, passing a student to a doctor, psychologist or therapist, is one of the core services of a guidance programme. For many young people, the school counsellor is the first trained person they ever speak to about a problem. A good counsellor turns that conversation into a next step.
Suggested read: CASSON: Membership, CCN, LPCN and How Counsellors Register
Why it matters for schools
A working guidance service helps the whole school, not only the students who walk through the counsellor’s door.
- Orientation and placement help new students settle and put them in classes, clubs and subjects that suit them.
- Information about careers and courses reaches whole classes at once, through talks and visits.
- Early warning: counsellors often spot problems, such as bullying, family trouble or falling grades, that teachers are too busy to see.
- Support for teachers and parents: counsellors can advise on a struggling student, and act as a link between school and home.
What does the evidence say? Most Nigerian studies we found describe which services exist or what people think of them, rather than measuring results. Two examples:
- In interviews with 20 principals in Kwara State (published 2021), principals said counselling services had a significant effect on students’ academic achievement, even though most of their schools lacked a proper counselling unit.
- In a 2026 survey of 249 students and 12 counsellors in Wukari, Taraba State, students rated the influence of guidance services on peace and conflict resolution at school as high.
International research goes further. A 2011 meta-analysis of school counselling interventions found a modest positive effect on average, and found that some activities worked better than others. A 2020 review in the New Zealand Journal of Counselling summarised research from the United States and the United Kingdom showing that school counselling benefits students’ education and personal lives, and noted that more counsellors per student has been linked with better outcomes.
The honest summary: school counselling helps, on average and when it’s done well, but it isn’t a guarantee, and the strongest evidence comes from outside Nigeria.
Why it matters for Nigeria
Nigerian policy makers and counsellors have made the national case for decades.
- 1981: the revised National Policy on Education said counsellors would be appointed in post-primary schools. Its reasons were that many young people knew little about career prospects, and that some pupils struggled with personal adjustment.
- 2018: launching the National Policy on Counselling, the then minister of education, Adamu Adamu, linked weak school counselling to out-of-school children, lower completion rates and anti-social behaviour. He said the policy reflected counselling’s role in learners’ moral development and academic performance.
- 2018: in a University of Ibadan inaugural lecture, Professor Samuel Salami listed reasons Nigeria needs counselling, including rapid growth in school enrolment, drugs and alcohol, cultism, unemployment and changes in family life.
- 2026: in a National Open University of Nigeria inaugural lecture, Professor Rosemary Ogbodo-Adoga called guidance and counselling a preventive measure, and urged governments to fund it with dedicated budget lines and deploy trained counsellors full-time.
The law now reflects this. The Counselling Practitioners Council of Nigeria Act of 2022 says counsellor posts in government and in companies are meant for counsellors registered under the Act. That treats counselling as a profession, not a side duty.
Benefits at a glance
| Who | What guidance and counselling offers | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Students | Better-informed choices; someone to talk to; a route to help | Choosing between science and arts in SS1 with a clear picture of where each leads |
| Parents | A trained link at school; earlier warning of problems | A counsellor explains why a child’s grades have dropped and what might help |
| Teachers | Support with students who are struggling | Referring a withdrawn student instead of punishing them |
| Schools | Smoother placement and orientation; fewer problems that escalate | New JSS1 students settling in faster after an orientation week |
| Nigeria | Young people better prepared for study, work and adult life | Graduates in courses and careers that suit them |
What makes the difference
The importance of guidance and counselling depends on it being done properly. The benefits above need a trained counsellor with time for the job, a private place to talk, and links to doctors and therapists for referral. Local studies show that many Nigerian schools still lack some of them.
The service also sits alongside, not instead of, teaching about mental health. Our piece on mental health education in Nigerian schools covers that side.
When school guidance isn’t enough
A school counsellor is a starting point. If a young person has low mood that won’t lift, anxiety that stops them functioning, grief, self-harm or abuse, they need more than a school office can usually give.
- Parents can ask a family doctor, who can refer a child or teenager to a mental health service. If you’d like support for yourself as a parent, you can talk to a family and parenting therapist.
- University students aged 18 and over can see what support is available to students on Mytherapist.ng.
If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 112 (or 767 in Lagos), or Safe Place Nigeria on 0800 800 2000. The full list of numbers is on our helplines page.
Suggested read: Guidance and Counselling in Nigeria: History and Today
Frequently asked questions
What is the importance of guidance and counselling in schools? It helps students choose subjects, courses and careers well, cope with schoolwork and personal problems, and get referred for specialist help when they need it. It also helps teachers and parents spot and deal with problems early.
Why is guidance and counselling important to students? Because big decisions, such as your SS1 class, WAEC subjects and JAMB course, come early and shape what follows. A counsellor helps you decide with good information, and gives you a private, trained person to talk to when something is wrong.
What is the role of guidance and counselling in national development? Nigerian policy has linked it to young people’s career readiness and personal adjustment since 1981. Ministers and professors have since tied it to school completion, behaviour, drug use and unemployment. The idea is that well-guided students become adults in work that suits them.
Does school counselling actually work? On average, yes, when it’s done well. International reviews have found a modest positive effect from school counselling, and better results where schools have more counsellors per student. Nigerian studies mostly describe services rather than measure their effects.
Is guidance and counselling compulsory in Nigerian schools? Federal policy has said since 1981 that counsellors will be appointed in post-primary schools, and a National Policy on Counselling followed in 2017–18. In practice, provision varies a lot from school to school, so ask your school what it offers.
How can parents benefit from guidance and counselling? A school counsellor can explain what’s behind a change in your child’s behaviour or grades, suggest next steps, and refer your child to specialist help. They’re also a useful second opinion on subject and course choices.
