A Comparative Study of Student Academic Performance in Public and Private Secondary Schools in FCT
Chapter One
Objectives of the Study
The objective of the study is to find out weather significant differences exist between the academic performance of public and Private Schools.
- What is the level of performance in public secondary school
- What is the level of performance in private secondary school
CHAPTER TWO
Introduction
This chapter discuss the review of the literature based on the following sub-headings.
- Influence of School Physical Facilities on Academic Achievement
- Teacher qualification and academic performance
- School Environment and Academic Achievement
- Influence of Discipline of Teachers on Academic Achievement of Secondary school students
- Influence of School Physical Facilities on Academic Achievement of Secondary school students
- School location and academic performance
SCHOOLS’ FACILITIES AND STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE
The Schools’ facilities have been observed as important factors to quantitative education. The importance of teaching and learning to the provision of adequate instructional facilities for education cannot be over-emphasized. The dictum that “teaching is inseparable from learning but learning is not separable from teaching” is that, teachers do the teaching to make the students learn, but students can learn without the teachers. According to Akande (1985), learning can occur through one’s interaction with one’s environment. The environment here refers to facilities that are available to facilitate students’ learning outcome. It includes books, audio-visual, software and hardware of educational technology, so also size of classroom, sitting position and arrangement, availability of tables, chairs, chalkboards, shelves on which instruments for practical’s are arranged (Farrant, 1991 and Farombi, 1998).
According to Oni, 1992, facilities constitute a strategic factor in organizational functioning. This is so because they determine to a very large extent the smooth functioning of any social organization or system including education. He further stated that their availability, adequacy and relevance influence efficiency and high productivity. In his words, Farobi 1998, opined that the wealth of a nation or society could determine the quality of education in that land, emphasizing that a society that is wealthy will establish good schools with quality teachers, learning infrastructures that with such, students may learn with ease thus bringing about good academic performance. Ajayi and Ogunyemi (1990) reiterated that when facilities are provided to meet relative needs of a school system. Students will not only have access to the reference materials mentioned by the teachers, but individual students will also learn at their own paces. The net effect of this is increased overall academic performance of their entire students.
In his study on resource concentration, utilization and management as correlates of students learning outcomes in Oyo State, Farombi (1998) found that the classroom learning environment in some schools were poor. He cited examples of schools without chalkboard, absence of ceiling, some roofing sheets not in place, windows and doors removed among others, a situation which the researcher regarded as hazardous to healthy living of the learners. According to Nigerian Tribune on Thursday 25 November 1999, in caption; Mass Failure will continue until….. “the Chairman of the National Committee of WAEC, Dr. U.B Ahmed opined that the classroom is the origin of failure ….” a close look at the public schools and what goes on there shows that nothing good can come out of most schools as they do not have facilities, adequate and appropriate human resources to prepare candidates for WASCE.
The above statement indicates that the problems of candidates’ mass failure in WAEC’s organized examination will continue until the situation of the nation’s public schools change for the better. Writing on how to improve secondary education in developing countries, World Bank Publication (1990), citing Mwamwenda and Mwamwenda (1987) linked performance of students to the provision of adequate facilities while referring to a survey of 51 students in secondary schools in Botswana that students performed significantly better on academic tests when they had adequate classrooms, desks and books. Earlier, Fagbamiye (1979) attesting to why students’ performance standard fall, observed 559 cases from 13 secondary schools in Lagos State using age, type of school (Day or Boarding, mixed or single sex), teachers qualification and teaching experience as well as intake quality using students’ entrance examination achievement. His findings revealed that secondary schools which are equipped had good records of achievement and attracted more students. He concluded that good quality schools in terms of facilities and younger students’ intake perform better in WASCE.
Commenting on why high academic attainment is not in trend in Nigeria, Adesina (1981) identified poor and inadequate physical facilities, obsolete teaching light on school facilities and moral guiding provision, Fabunmi (1997) asserted that school facilities when provided will aid teaching learning programme and consequently improve academic performance of students while the models guiding their provision to schools could take any form as rational bureaucratic and or political model, whichever model is adopted, according to him there is always a common feature different allocation of facilities to schools. In his words, Ojoawo (1990), however, noted that certain schools are favoured in the allocation of facilities at the expense of others. Writing on poor performance of students in public examinations, London (1993) stated that in many developing nations, certain physical facilities are none existent, and that those instances where amenities are available man are of substandard quality. What is even more alarming is the correlation, which these observers claim to exist between quality of facilities and academic performance. Lamenting on the glowing inadequacies of school facilities in our educational industry, Akinkugbe (1994) opined that everywhere you look, primary, secondary, special, technical, tertiary, there is abundant evidence of crippling inertia, criminal neglect and a pervasive decay in values and standard.
Other scholars (Wilcocksonn 1994, Lawai 1995, Ajayi 1996, Suleiman 1996) have variously identified the significance of facilities in teaching learning spheres. We can say that absence or poor (and or deteriorating) quality of educational facilities can affect academic performance. Gamoran (1992), however, holding a contrary view noted that facilities…. teachers’ salaries, books in the library and the presence of science laboratory, had little impact on variation in student achievement once student background variables had been taken into account.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This chapter describe research design population for the study example for the study research instrument administration of the instrument data analysis
Research Design
The expost facto/causal comparative research design was employed in the study. The research design is useful whenever two groups differ on independent variables of the groups and the hypothesis about differences on one or more dependent variables of the groups need to be tested. In this study the expost facto design is deemed fit because the study attempted to test hypotheses on the performance of two groups which differ on characteristics such as ownership of schools, gender and school location.
Population of the Study
The population of the study consists of all public and private secondary school in ondo state. There are 194 government approved public secondary schools and 45 government approved private secondary schools, giving a total of 239 registered secondary schools with the student population of about 394,065.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
This chapter present data analysis and discussion of findings based on the research question and hypothesis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATION
The result obtained also revealed that students in private Secondary schools in rural areas performed better in Basic Science than their public counterpart. The result obtained also revealed that students in private Secondaryschools in rural areas performed better in Basic Science than those in public secondary schools in rural areas this is because majority 55% had credit pass in private schools whereas few 35% had credit pass in rural public schools. Generally, students in rural areas had low performance when compared to those in urban schools. The low level of students performances in rural public schools might perhaps be attributed to what we can described as poor staffing in schools.
Frequent withdrawal of children from school, truancy, the study also agrees with Oke(1992), Adeyemi (1998) and Onipede (2003) that private schools in rural areas perform better.
The result of the analysis had shown that male students in both public and Private secondary schools in Ondo state outperformed their female counterparts.
The result revealed a credit pass of 46.44% and 44.82% male and female students respectively. The result of this study is in line with those of Adhimabi and Heneveld(1995) who observed that male students outperformed the female students academically.
However, result of this study disagrees with the study of Yahaya (2005) who opined that gender analysis of performance is not on biological differences.
It is obvious from the results presented above, that pupils in the private Secondary schools performed better than theircounterparts in the public schools, lending credence to earlier study reported (Braun, Jenkins &Grigg, 2006; Lubienski&Lubienski, 2006; and Yoloye, 1988;). This of course could be attributed to a number of factors.
Conclusion
The study concludes that:
- Students in private secondary schools in urban areas in Ondo state performed better than those in public Secondary Schools
- Students in private Secondary Schools in rural areas performed better in Secondary Schools.
- Male students in private schools in OndoState performed better than female students.
- Male students in public Secondary Schools in Ondo State performed better than their fellow female students
Recommendation
Base on the findings of the study the following recommendation were made
- The state government should provide opportunities for teachers andScience teachers of other subjects to attend seminars, service courses and workshops to avail them the opportunity of keeping abreast with effective andcurrent methods of teaching to facilitate teaching in schools.
- Qualified teachers with NCE, BSc (ed) must be employed to teach in schools .
- The salary of teachers should be enhanced and science allowances paid promptly to encourage and motivate them to work hard.
- The use of internet and information communication technology (ICT) is stronglyrecommended for the teaching in Schools
- Governments, private organizations and individuals concerned with the business of education should endeavor to address the obstacles hindering effective academic performance of students. This can be done by developing achievement motivation in students through achievement motivation training.
- There is the need for the recognition of individual differences in students and the need to deal with them accordingly. Counselors should provide the necessary assistance and psychological support for students from single parent family so as to overcome their emotional problems.
- There is also the need to keep enlightening the parents of the importance of the home structure on the life of children. This is necessary so that parents can understand the implications and consequences of parental separation and thus mobilize all resources to curtail the problems arising from the situation. Generally, there is need to combat the continuing declining state of education by providing more funds and materials for the up-liftment of our educational system.
- Finally, school counselors should be employed in institutions of learning and adequate supervision to be put in place to ensure provision of necessary guidance services to students.
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