Ghanaian Senior High School Students’ Perception on the School Counsellor’s Role: the Case of Three Public Senior High Schools in the Offinso Municipality

Guidance and counselling play a very important role in the school system and the role of the school counsellor is seen as a central concern of stakeholders in senior high schools (SHS). However, little attention has been paid to the preconceived conceptions of the roles of the SHS counsellors held by students. In this article the researcher shares the results of an assessment of 400 public senior high school students’ perceptions on the role of their counsellors in the Offinso Municipality. A descriptive survey design was used to collect data for this study. Stratified, purposive and simple random sampling techniques were employed in schools and students. A key finding was that, generally, students have positive perception on the role of the SHS counsellors. However, they considered the counsellors’ role of assessment and appraisal as not so important. The study concluded that counsellors may be lacking the needed repertoire in the use of assessment and appraisal tool and that some positive action may be needed to urge counsellors to make use of test instruments and other forms of appraisals in ascertaining the needs of students for proper remediation. It was recommended that counsellor educators should be made aware of the perception SHS students hold concerning the counsellor’s role on assessment and appraisal so as to enable him/her educate the counsellor trainees on their importance.