REVITALIZING QUALITY USING GUIDANCE COUNSELING IN ETHIOPIAN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS: EXPLORING STUDENTS’ VIEWS AND ATTITUDES AT HARAMAYA UNIVERSITY

This study attempts to scrutinize how guidance counseling is implemented and its impact in enhancing quality in higher education institutions. The sole purpose of the investigation is to explore students’ views and attitudes and how the current practices of guidance counseling contribute to foster excellence of the various university academic training programs. To this effect, it is believed that the finding related to this study could serve to identify challenges and opportunities, develop an appropriate strategy for future guidance counseling effort in the Ethiopian Universities in general and Haramaya University in particular. The tool designed to serve the purpose is questionnaire, and personal as well as colleague observation of the day-to-day interactions. The findings of this study uncover the fact that students do not have sufficient knowledge on the kind and the extent of guidance counseling services offered in the university campuses. However, about 80 percent of the respondents claimed that they have favorable attitudes toward the guidance counseling services in general. In the study, examination on the differences with respect to certain variables (such as programs, sex, and locality) in perceptions and attitudes toward the guidance counseling services are vigilantly scrutinized. At the end, pertinent suggestions that would assist Ethiopian universities in the sector of guidance counseling are included.