CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Children who belong to the same age group, who play together and share the same status or interests are regarded as members of the same peer group. Members of a peer group, through socialization, develop a sense of identity, solidarity and stability. As it were, the group provides the standard of behavior, whether in the form of rules and regulations, do’s, don’ts, upheld by every member of the group. By so doing, the group develops its own culture within the larger culture. For instance, they develop their own social behavior, fashion and dressing pattern. Such ways of life, they display at school and in the classroom. The individual student is motivated not by his own basic desires and drives but by the needs and drives of his or her peer group. To attain one’s goal in life is not an easy task. It involves a lot of decision making, advice seeking and counseling. In like manner, the choice of subjects for the secondary school certificate examination (S.S.C.E) by students is based on the relevance of the subjects to his or her future career, and in most cases based on the wish of peer group and his or her parents. One of the main goals of education is that of helping the individual not only to fit properly into the society, but also helping to develop the mind of the individual to understand his or her environment. Besides these general aims of education, secondary education is meant to prepare the Nigerian child for life in the midst of rapid technological advancement. In this present age of Western education, which has brought with it knowledge explosion, the society has become complex, to the extent that senior secondary school students have become exposed to the problem of choosing from a member of subjects to quality for the course of their choice in the university, college of education, polytechnic or any higher institution of learning. The choice of subjects is very important, because whatever choice that is made can affect the rest of the life of the students, either positively or negatively. According to Durojaiye and Olayinka (1973), most of the time students make unrealistic choices, as such choices are based on encouragement, peer group influence, prestige, occupational value and sex. In the light of the above, it is therefore important for the students to be properly guided in their choice of career. This will help the students to choose courses they will excel in. Presently, Nigeria as a country is unable to provide employment for all her graduates. This is a very big problem because ability to gain employment is the ultimate goal of formal education. This problem may have been due to lack of proper students’ guidance occasioned by lack of guidance and counseling services in the secondary schools.