EVALUATION OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF GUIDANCE COUNSELLING SERVICES ON STUDENTS’ NEEDS IN SOME STATE UNIVERSITIES IN CAMEROON

This study was designed to evaluate the implementation of guidance counselling services on students’ needs in some state universities in Cameroon. The study employed the mixed method with a concurrent nested research design. The target population comprised of 148,740 students with 54 guidance counsellors from university of Buea, University of Yaoundé 1, University of Bamenda and University of Dschang.  12 personnel in charge of guidance counselling in Ministry of Higher Education also constituted the target population. The sample population was made up of 1260 students, 39 practicing guidance counselors, 3 head of service in charge of guidance counselling in the universities and 1 head of service in charge of guidance counselling in the Ministry of Higher Education. An evaluation questionnaire and interview guide were used as instrument for data collection. The statistical package for social science version 25 with the use of descriptive and inferential statistics was use to analyse quantitative data. The descriptive statistical tools used are frequency count, percentages, mean, standard deviation and multiple responses. Pearson test was used to test hypothesis. Qualitative data was analyse using the thematic analysis approach. The findings of the study revealed that information service, orientation service, personal counselling service, administrative service, placement and follow-up service, referral services were all provided but the provision of these services were rated low by both counsellors and students, with students giving a much lower rating mean of 0.16 below the cut-off point of 0.5 on a mean scale of 0-1 than the counsellors mean of 2.44 below the cut-off point of 2.5 on a mean scale of 1-4. The findings of the study also showed that group sessions on guidance curriculum and evaluation services were the least provided service by the guidance counsellors. It was also revealed that the implementation of guidance counselling services had a moderate effect on 345 students. The study recommended that guidance counsellors should integrate contemporary comprehensive counselling methods in order to reach out to many students. There’s also need for the government to formulate clear policies that influence effective implementation of guidance counselling services in Cameroon Universities in order to meet the 21st century needs of students.