Influence of Socioeconomic Status on Academic Performance: A Comparative Study of Public and Private Schools in Nigeria

The study is aimed at investigating the impact of socioeconomic status on academic performance with focus being place on the comparison between private and public schools in Nigeria, bearing in mind the stratification that exist based on the privilege enjoyed between citizens of low and high socioeconomic status. A total of 211 students who had just completed their secondary school education participated in the study. The student were organised in a class and were lectured on a concept. After the lectures, an assessment test was conducted for the students. The students were further issued questionnaire to supply information as regards the level of their parent’s literacy and occupation. The result of the study indicates that socio economic status of parents has an impact on the academic performance of their children; with the student from private schools background recording better grade as compared to their counterpart from public schools. The study concludes that the Government should ensure proper funding of public school and also engage in proper follow up of government policies across all public schools from the ministry of education to ensure that these schools meet up to standard