Trends in Academic Achievement of Students in Public and Privately Owned Secondary Schools in Awka Education Zone, Anambra State, Nigeria

The study sought to ascertain the trends on academic achievement of students in public and private secondary schools in Awka Education zone of Anambra State. Five research questions guided the study. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study. West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) scores in 2013/14. 2014/15 and 2015/16 academic sessions were used for data collation. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 15 public and 15 private secondary schools in Awka Education zone. Simple percentage was used to establish the academic achievement trends in public and private secondary schools in 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16 academic sessions. Findings of the study reveal that private school students had a higher percentage of excellent (A1-B3) passes in Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and English Language than public school students in 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16 academic sessions. Although the study also discovered that public school students had more percentage of credit-level passes than private school students in Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and English Language in 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16 academic sessions. This may be as a result of the fact that there are more qualified teachers in public schools due to strict policy of government in employment. The study concluded that teachers of Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and English Language in private schools are more motivated and committed in ensuring excellent performance of their students than their counterparts in public schools. It was recommended among others that, principals should increase their instructional supervision on teachers teaching Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and English Language to energize them in doing their work diligently and professionally, especially in public schools