Abstract
This study examined the factors militating against implementation of guidance and counselling services in senior secondary schools in Rivers State. Three research questions and three corresponding hypotheses were developed to guide the study. The design of the study was a descriptive research design. The population of the study comprised 65,000 senior secondary school students (SS1 to SS3) and 350 guidance counselors in Port Harcourt Metropolis. The sample size was 400 for the students, while the counselors were 40, giving a total sample size of 440.The researcher adopted a simple random sampling technique to select the respondents for the study. The instrument for data collection was a well-structured questionnaire titled: Evaluation of the Implementation of Guidance and Counseling Services in Senior Secondary Schools Questionnaire. The four-point rating scale was validated by the experts in the Department of Educational Psychology, Guidance and Counseling. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions, while t-test statistics were used to test the hypotheses. The null hypotheses were tested at the 0.05 level of significance. Based on the analysis, the findings of the study revealed that availability of personnel, students’ awareness and time constraint are among the factors militating against implementation of guidance and counselling services in senior secondary schools in Rivers State. The researcher recommends that: more qualified counsellors should be recruited to reduce the counsellor–student ratio and schools should conduct regular orientation sessions and awareness campaigns to educate students, teachers, and parents on the purpose and benefits of counseling.