Identifying and Meeting the Counselling Needs of Distance Learners as Shapers of Students’ Academic Success: The Case of University of Cape Coast, Ghana

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to identify and meet the counselling needs of distance students, focusing on College of Distance Education (CoDE), University of Cape Coast (UCC) diploma students, in order to help shape students’ academic success. The moderating roles of organisational culture and effective counselling service delivery were also considered. The descriptive survey design was used. The sample size of the study was 1110. Purposive sampling technique was used to select three regional capitals (Greater-Accra, Ashanti and Northern Regions) while stratified random sampling technique was used to select the respondents. Questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.895 was the instrument used. Out of the 1110 questionnaires administered, the researcher was able to collect 1075 completed and accurate questionnaires, representing 96.8 percent response rate. The independent samples t-test and hierarchical linear multiple regression analysis were used to analyse the data. The findings of the study revealed that diploma students of CoDE had four broad priority counselling needs. Furthermore, the counselling needs of distance students were not adequately met by the College. The study concludes that whenever the organisational culture of the college supports the activities of the counselling unit, and also when the service delivery of the unit is perceived to be effective, the unit is able to meet students’ identified priority needs which will in turn lead to students’ academic success. However, to enhance academic success, students’ personal characteristics such as gender, age and level of study should be considered when identifying and meeting the counselling needs of students. It is recommended to the College to nurture the kind of atmosphere that will support counselling activities in order to help boost students’ academic success.