Población objetivo

counsellors and students that unmet need programme for family planning involves a lot of advantages, in its effort to discourage low contraceptive prevalence and high fertility among women, a measure well attested as competent by Piotrow (1999). Piotrow further stated that with enough support from parents, counsellors, teachers as well as peer groups, meeting unmet programme would help the young people make informed sexual decisions, avoiding STIs and unintended pregnancies.

Similarly Ojo (1995) posited that the objectives of the programme if well executed or dispensed with the support of the beneficiaries, would surely change their negative attitude and behaviour towards contraceptive use, which in turn would enhance good health, quality of life and development.

Table 4: Percentage Responses of Women’s, Counsellor’s and Student’s on Adequancy of Curriculum Contents of a formalized Unmet Need Programme for Family Planning.

S/N Women % Counsellors % Students %

Yes % No Yes % No Yes % No

1 Lack of information 30 100 - - 20 100 - - 50 100 - -

2 Communication difficulties

25 83.3 5 16.6 19 95 1 5 34 68 16 32

3 Lack of access to good family

planning services 30 100 - - 20 100 - - 50 100 - -

4 Official and cultural barriers 25 83.3 5 16.6 10 50 10 50 39 78 1 22

5 Health risk reduction 30 100 - - 20 100 - - 50 100 - -

6 Strategies of increasing

contraceptive prevalence 30 100 - - 20 100 - - 50 100 - -

7 Abortion problems 29 96.6 1 3.3 14 70 6 30 43 86 7 14

8 Family life and parenthood

education 20 66.6 10 33.3 14 70 6 30 35 70 15 30

9 Population control and family

planning. 30 100 - - 20 100 - - 50 100 - -

10 AIDS/STDS prevention control 0 100 - - 20 100 - - 50 100 - -

11 Decision making and problem

solving skills 27 90 3 10 13 65 7 35 38 76 12 24

12 Environmental issues in family

planning 26 86.6 4 13.3 16 80 4 20 39 78 11 22

13 Contraceptive methods 30 100 - - 20 100 - - 50 100 - -

14

Myths and misconceptions about

family planning. 30 100 - - 20 100 - - 0 100 - -

15 Concept, of unmet need in family

planning 27 90 3 10 15 75 5 25 41 82 9 18

16 Coping with stress and frustration

28 93.3 2 6.6 18 90 2 10 34 68 16 32

17 Setting realistic life goals 24 80 6 20 11 55 9 45 35 70 15 30

18 Value clarification 29 96.6 1 3.3 17 85 3 15 39 78 11 22

19 Responsibility to the society 29 93.3 2 6.6 16 80 4 20 40 80 10 22

20 Strategies of contraceptive

prevalence 27 90 3 10 17 85 3 15 43 86 7 14

Evidence from Table 7 indicate that women, counsellors and students have shown a massive support for the items in the curriculum content of a formalized meeting unmet need programme for family planning. The results in the table show that the three categories of the respondents perceived all the curriculum content areas of the programme as adequate and could achieve the stated objectives of unmet need programme in secondary schools. The responses of the women, counsellors and students to each item of the content of unmet need programme ranges from 50% to 100% which indicate a homogenous perception among the women, counsellors and students. The decision is that the content materials of the programme are adequate for the attainment of the curricular objectives in unmet need programme for family planning.

This finding is in agreement with that of Piotrow (1999) who stated that a good programme must involve selection of appropriate learning experience that is guided toward the interest and aspiration of both learner and the society. This position was supported by Bhushan (1996) who posited that this calls for ideas or principles that when taught the learner, the stated objectives can be achieved.

Although the women’s, counsellor’s and student’s opinions about the adequacy of the curriculum content in achieving the objectives are homogenous, the point raised by Ojo (1995) and Piotrow (1999) that the

knowledge of the content of the unmet need programme cannot help women adequately for a long time, should be taken seriously. For instance, they noted that contraceptive used was introduced in Nigeria decades ago without making a desired impart in the lives of many women, has implication for this study. As long as reasons for unmet need are not given the desired attention and purpose of contraceptive use are not understood by women and adolescents, content curriculum cannot achieve the desired goal. Women and adolescents must be guided, or directed to take the right steps towards contraceptive use. The point is in consonance with the observation of the proponent of Rational Emotive Bnehaviour therapy, Ellis (1980) who stated that counsellors must teach or guide individuals to identify their own self-defeating thoughts, beliefs and actions and replace them with more effective, life enhancing ones.

Individuals, couples and students must reorganise their thinking and remove the basic cause of difficulties and replace negative attitude with positive attitude in contraceptive prevalence.

The truth of the matter is that unmet need for family planning poses challenges to man in many areas of life. For instance, unmet need, Ojo (1995) noted leads to ugly consequences including health risks, denial and deprivation. For such difficulties to be overcome, Ellis (1980) concluded, behaviour must be changed, contraception must be used to

enhance quality of life and development. This researcher is of the opinion that if these items included in the content curriculum are taken seriously and judiciously dispensed, the programme objectives must be achieved.

In tables 1 and 2, the underlying basis for this study has been the conclusions of Ogunlere (2003), Okpede (1991), Ojo (1995), Odimegwu and Piotrow (1994) that the need for a broad, meaningful programme of a formalized meeting unmet need programme that would be offered in a broad sense of education that would emphasis open, honest and objective study of unmet need for family planning through the school’s guidance and counselling services, could not be overemphasized.

The researcher has observed that any attempt to come up with an acceptable and valid curriculum content of any programme such as meeting unmet for family planning for proper education of women and adolescents, cannot ignore the services of guidance counselling. A counselling programme is based on the conviction that education should be a process deliberation. This process should make the client capable of choosing and achieving his/her own ends to set goals, work purposely towards their achievement and assume full responsibility for his/her own choices, hence the main concern of the guidance counsellor is to facilitate freedom to help the client develop as a self confident and self-directed person.