There exists a serious controversy over the University performance of students attending public and private secondary schools. This study aimed to assess the differential in university academic performance of students from public and private secondary schools studying in Federal University Dutsin-Ma. The research design of this study is an ex post facto research design. The population is made up of all 300 level students of Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Katsina, Katsina State during the 2020/2021 academic session. The sample size was 183 (Male 120 & Female 63) students, simple random sampling technique was used to select sample from each programme in Science Education Department, Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State. The students’ cumulative grade point average (CGPA) at the end of the 300 level 2020/2021 academic session was collected. The data collected were analyzed using t-test inferential statistic. Results obtained showed that there is no difference between university academic performance of private and public secondary school students in Federal university Dutsin-Ma., and recommended that, parents could take their children to any school type irrespective of public or private secondary school

Kankia, D. A

Sabo, A

English

ZENODO

  Zamfara International Journal of Education (ZIJE) The Official Journal of the Faculty of Education Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State, Nigeria Volume 3, Number 2, September, 2023 pISSN: (Hard Copy): 2814 – 1377; eISSN (Online): 2814 – 1369      www.zijedufugusau.com Differential in University Academic … (Sabo, & Kankia, 2023) DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8383472   60 Differential in University Academic Performance of Students from Public and Private Secondary Schools Studying in Federal University Dutsin-Ma *Sabo, Abubakar1 Email: abusabokguga@gmail.com & asabo@fudutsinma.edu.ng  Tel: 08039498636 Prof. Kankia, Dalhat Aminu1 1Department of Science Education, Faculty of Education, Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State. Abstract There exists a serious controversy over the University performance of students attending public and private secondary schools. This study aimed to assess the differential in university academic performance of students from public and private secondary schools studying in Federal University Dutsin-Ma. The research design of this study is an ex post facto research design. The population is made up of all 300 level students of Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Katsina, Katsina State during the 2020/2021 academic session. The sample size was 183 (Male 120 & Female 63) students, simple random sampling technique was used to select sample from each programme in Science Education Department, Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State. The students’ cumulative grade point average (CGPA) at the end of the 300 level 2020/2021 academic session was collected. The data collected were analyzed using t-test inferential statistic. Results obtained showed that there is no difference between university academic performance of private and public secondary school students in Federal university Dutsin-Ma., and recommended that, parents could take their children to any school type irrespective of public or private secondary school. Keywords: Secondary school, Performance, University and Students Introduction Students at all levels of education have been awfully reported and acknowledged by all and sundry in Nigeria. Teaching and learning in Nigerian secondary schools are in a sorry state, indeed, in a deplorable condition. This is revealed by the persistent poor understanding and achievement of students in all the subjects (Dalhat, 2022). Hence, there are several problems confronting effective teaching and learning of the subjects in the schools. Some University students had poor background which is rooted from their secondary schools’ education. Whatever a student learns at the secondary level is based on what he learned at the primary level.  Whatever a student learns at the University is based on what he learned at the secondary school level. The current secondary school education curricula are spiral in nature (Carles, 2022). Again, many secondary school teachers do not cover curricula or scheme of work at the end of every session. This provides gap in students’ learning consequently leading to their poor secondary education background. Studies of performance at university have examined the influence of a range of factors, including personal characteristics, early academic achievements and type of secondary school attended. Although Nigeria consists of many ethnic groups and societies each with its own culture and tradition, they all have common educational aims and objectives. But methods differ from place to place, chiefly because of social, economic and geographical imperatives. Many persons seem to be perplexed as to what factors are actually responsible for the fall in the standard of students’ performance in Universities in Nigeria. This puzzled state has eventually led many to attribute the abysmal fall in achievement to: poor condition of service for lecturers; inadequate supply of facilities and equipment; lack of motivation; wrong method of teaching and admission of incompetent candidates into Universities (Nworgu, 2019). The current secondary school education curricula are spiral in nature (Carles,2022).  Better understanding of the effect of school characteristics on learning is important because policy can influence the characteristics of public schools, as well as the cost of private schools through vouchers and scholarship (Glewe, 2018). Household members select school type for their children/wards based on their wealth and preference for performance. This raises the prospect of selection bias in empirical estimates of the effect of school type on just scores. In general, evidence from school survey is consistent with the long-standing perception of the superiority of private schools over public schools Melnick (2021). Thomas (2019) posited that teacher – student ratio in public schools is equal to or higher than the ratio in private secondary schools for the two levels of schooling junior and senior. Junior secondary entrance fees paid by private schools were actually higher than the fees paid at government owned schools. School entrance/placement fees were abolished at public schools (Jasen, 2022). Moreover, the total school fees and other schooling costs, expenditure was higher for private schools   Zamfara International Journal of Education (ZIJE) The Official Journal of the Faculty of Education Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State, Nigeria Volume 3, Number 2, September, 2023 pISSN: (Hard Copy): 2814 – 1377; eISSN (Online): 2814 – 1369      www.zijedufugusau.com Differential in University Academic … (Sabo, & Kankia, 2023) DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8383472   61 than public schools. According to Lubienski (2019). Overall past researches on school input concluded that along most dimensions, private schools used higher quality input because proprietors and proprietress did fancy spending money to acquire quality inputs. Whereas in government owned schools, the government is not ready to spend huge financial resources on education. Studies by Sexton (2019) on public and private schooling suggest that reform efforts and financial investments in the educational system should promote public schools’ implementation of policies and management ability. James, King, and Surgaha chi (2021) found that after controlling for existing test scores, public secondary schools included lower costs per student and concluded that through effective management, improved academi000c quality can be achieved. Studies by Bedi and Grag (2017) supported that at the secondary level, private and public schools attract observable strong students. Private schools in urban areas 00screen the candidates for admission after completion of primary education. Therefore, many private school students are selected for secondary education whereas public schools do not screen their candidates (Somers, 2020).    In Akwa Ibom State, the general impression people have is that private primary and secondary schools are meant for privileged people or class. Most of these private schools ar00e well equipped, with basic amenities and adequately staffed (Okon, 2019) Many public secondary schools are poorly structured, equipped, inadequately ventilated and decorated such that they are capable of eliciting deviant and disruptive behaviour that may influence teaching/learning, thus affecting perfor0mance. A stimulating school environment arouses the students to learn. Buder (2020) observed that a conducive school for learning includes: the physical environment of the school, the physical setting of the classrooms, teaching materials and the quality of the teachers. The degree of interest a student has is derived from the learning environment which affects the performance. The University academic performance may be inversely related to the performance of the secondary school an entrant attended (Mwandigha et al., 2018). Social conflict theory by Max Weber (1864-1920) identified the purpose of education as maintaining social inequality and preserving the power of those who dominate society. Conflict theory sees the educational system as perpetuating the status quo by dulling the lower classes into being obedient work ((Saefudin, 2019). Conflict theorists agreed that the educational systems practice sorting, and argue that school’s sort along distinct class and ethnic lines. According to conflict theorists, schools train those in the working classes to accept their positions as lower-class members of the society (Tamburaka, 2021). Weber’s theory opined that, the school is supposed to provide equal level ground for the children of high, middle and low status parents, but the parents of high socio-socio-economic status still want to retain the mark of distinction between rich and poor by sending their children to private schools that had high academic standards and expose students of the poor to public schools because they cannot afford to pay high school fees and this prevents the children of the poor parents from competing with their children so as to maintain upper class in the society (Woodfield, 2022). Despite stringent measures and strategies employed by the Nigerian government to ensure that educational standards are maintained at all level, there is an increase in students’ enrolment among private secondary schools (Onah, 2022) the current trends in Nigeria in terms of parents’ preferred choice sending their children to private educational institutions which is opposed to public institutions regardless of whatever level of education. It appears like parents lost confidence in public schools (Oyedele, 2018). The focus of this study therefore is to assess the differential in university academic performance of students from public and private secondary schools studying in Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Katsina state. Objectives of the study Specifically, the study sought to determine the difference in university academic performance between students from private and public secondary school studying in Federal University Dutsin-Ma Hypothesis There is no significant difference university academic performance of students from private and public secondary school studying in Federal University Dutsin-Ma. Methodology  The research design of this study is ex-post facto research design. The population is made up of all 300 level students from Department of Science Education, Faculty of Education, Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Katsina for 2020/2021 session. The sample size was 183 (Male 120 & Female 63), simple random sampling technique was used to select sample from each programmes in Science Education Department. The students’ cumulative grade point average (CGPA) at the end of 300 level were collected. Tables 1 and 2 show the population and sample respectively.     Zamfara International Journal of Education (ZIJE) The Official Journal of the Faculty of Education Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State, Nigeria Volume 3, Number 2, September, 2023 pISSN: (Hard Copy): 2814 – 1377; eISSN (Online): 2814 – 1369      www.zijedufugusau.com Differential in University Academic … (Sabo, & Kankia, 2023) DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8383472   62 Table 1: Population of the Research S/N Programmes      Male  Female   Total 1.  B.Sc. Ed. Mathematics    69  5   74 2.  B.Sc. Ed. Biology    59  57   116 3. B.Sc. Ed. Physics     5  3   8 4. B.Sc. Ed. Chemistry    56  26   82             Total      189  91   280 Source: Examination office Science Education Department Table 2: Sample size of the study S/N Programmes     Male  Female   Total 1. B.Sc. Ed Mathematic   45  5   50   2.  B.Sc. Ed Biology    35  35   70 3. B.Sc. Ed Physics    5  3   8 4. B.Sc. Ed Chemistry   35  20   55             Total     120  63   183 (Field work, 2023) The research question was answered along with its corresponding null hypothesis as presented. The CGPA of sampled students were used in the research. Descriptive and inferential analyses of the students’ CGPA were carried out. Calculated values of P-value were compared with alpha value. Hence, decisions were made.   Result Hypothesis There is no significant difference in university academic performance of students from private and public secondary school studying in Federal University Dutsin-Ma. Table 3: t-test analysis showing difference in university academic performance of students from public and private schools studying in Federal University Dutsin-Ma  Group N Mean Std. D. t-cal Df P-value Public 95 2.5032 .69833 1.830 161 .069 Private 68 2.7201 .80953 The above table revealed that the University mean performance of public senior secondary school graduates is (2.5032) and the University mean performance of private senior secondary school graduates is (2.7201). The difference in the mean performance was (0.21699). Also, the table showed that the t-cal value is (1.830) and P-value value is (0.69) which is greater than the alpha value (0.05). Hence, the null hypothesis of the research was retained and implied that there is no significant difference between university academic performance of private and public secondary school students in Federal university Dutsin-Ma. Discussion of Finding Many research studies have shown that students in private secondary schools perform better than students in public secondary schools in terms of secondary school education in Nigeria (Ekundayo, 2020), (Lubiensk, 2019). But the present research found that, there is no significant difference between university academic performance of private and public secondary school students. Which is in line with (Mwandigha et al., 2018) found that performance in university is on average, those from private and public secondary schools. Also show that those from private tend to have equivalent undergraduate performance to those entrants from Public secondary schools.  But why University education not the same as secondary education? Is it because they are given the same treatment in terms of learning conditions, lecturers, and materials for teaching and learning in the University system? Something is wrong somewhere that needs to be investigated.     Zamfara International Journal of Education (ZIJE) The Official Journal of the Faculty of Education Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State, Nigeria Volume 3, Number 2, September, 2023 pISSN: (Hard Copy): 2814 – 1377; eISSN (Online): 2814 – 1369      www.zijedufugusau.com Differential in University Academic … (Sabo, & Kankia, 2023) DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8383472   63 Recommendation Government should provide a special package, scholarships, and palliative care to graduates of public secondary schools because many of them cannot afford to pay school fees at the University. This can prevent the inequality of education among citizens.  References Bartos, O. J., & Wehr, P. (2020). Using conflict theory: Cambridge University Press. Bedi M., and Grag E. (2017). Incidence and duration of romantic attraction in students progressing from secondary to tertiary education. Journal of Biosocial Sciences, 33, 173-184. Bernard, F. (2018). Causal effects of single-sex schools on college entrance exams and college attendance: Random assignment in Seoul High Schools. PSC Working Paper Series, PSC 10-01. Buder (2020). Girls get better results at single-gender state schools. The Times (London, UK) http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article v5927472.ece (accessed March 17, 2010).  Carles, H. (2022). When being a girl matters less: Accessibility of gender related self-knowledge in single-sex and coeducational classes and its impact on students' physics-related self-concept of ability. British Journal of Educational Psychology 78(2), 273-89. Cunia, E.C. (2007). Behavioral learning theory. WebQuest. Retrieved on July 7, 2007, from http://suedstudent.syr.edu/~ebarretlide621/behavior.htm Dalhat, A.K. (2022). Effect of post-utme: 100 level direct admissions into education Departments of Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, Katsina. Knowledge Review Volume 24(1), 1-7  Everett, J. and Robins, J. 1991, ‘Tertiary Entrance Predictors of First-year University Performance’, Australian Journal of Education, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 24–40. Ekundayo, B.S. (2020). A Comparative Analysis of Student Performance in Economics inPrivate and Public Secondary Schools in Kogi State, Nigeria. Med Dissertation.Department of Arts and Social SciencesEducation. Nigeria: University of Lagos. Jasen L. (2022). Does high school matter, an analysis of three methods of predicting first-year grades. Research in Higher Education, 43(2), 187–207. Lubienski, C. (2019). Charter, private, public schools and academic achievement: New Evidence from NAEP Mathematics Data. Nepc.colorado.edu/files/EPRU-0601-137-ow1% Mwandigha, L. M., Tiffin, P. A., Paton, L. W., Kasim, A. S., & Böhnke, J. R. (2018). What is the effect of secondary ( high ) schooling on subsequent medical school performance ? A national , UK-based , cohort study. 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-020291 Melnick, H. (2021). A beautiful myth: The gendering of being/doing “good at maths”. Gender and Education, 17:203-219. Meyer, P. (2008). Learning separately: The case for single-sex schools. Education Next winter, 2000 Vol.8 No. 1 Nworgu, B. G. (2019). Evaluation of the context and presage variables in the implementation of further mathematics curriculum in Benue State. Journal of Educational Innovators, 1 (1), 7-16Sexton, H. (2013). Effect of single-sex education on progress in GCSE. Oxford Review of Education 33:233-259.  Onah, A. E. (2022). Effect of motivation on students ‘performance in mathematics. An undergraduate project submitted at the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi Okon, T.  (2019). When being a girl matters less: Accessibility of gender related self-knowledge in single-sex and coeducational classes and its impact on students' physics-related self-concept of ability. 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Differential in University Academic Performance of Students from Public and Private Secondary Schools Studying in Federal University Dutsin-Ma

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Differential in University Academic Performance of Students from Public and Private Secondary Schools Studying in Federal University Dutsin-Ma

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