The study investigated the role of ethics and professional counsellors in the development of counselling education in Nigeria as expressed by professional counsellors in Ondo metropolis, Nigeria. Simple random sampling technique was employed to select one hundred (100) respondents. Variables of gender, age, educational qualification and religious affiliation were considered. To collect relevant information for the study, the researchers made use of a questionnaire tagged “Role of Ethics and Professional Counsellors in the Development of Counselling Education in Nigeria Questionnaire” (REPCDCENQ). Eight null hypotheses were generated and tested at 0.05 alpha level of significance. The major results showed that item 3 on the roles of ethics which states “it regulates life and makes somebody act responsibly”. With a mean score of 2.89 ranked 1st while item 6 which states “Ethics in counselling education helps to regulate the counselling education system and ensures that this practice positively contributes towards human life”, with a mean score of 2.73 rank 10th. And on the role of professional counsellors, item 3 which states “curriculum development” with a mean score of 3.00 ranked 1st e.t.c. Four hypotheses were retained while four were rejected. For analysing the data, simple percentage, t-test, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) statistics were used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level of significance. It was recommended that ethics should strictly be adhered to by all professional counsellors, especially confidentiality irrespective of their age and educational qualification.
Keywords: Counselling, Development, Ethics, education and professional counsellors
