A Correlational Analysis of Private and Public Secondary School Students’ Performance in Waec and Neco Conducted Physics Examinations

This study was design to compare the academic performance of private and public secondary schools in Taraba state. The representative sample drawn from the target population for this study comprises students chosen from the twenty (20) selected schools from the sixteen (16)local government areas with focus on those that graduated from the year 2008 to 2012 inclusive. The data collected were subjected to frequency counts. Mean, standard deviation and the Fishers t-test statistical manipulations. The result of the study revealed that students who attended private secondary schools performed better in physics examinations conducted WAEC and NECO than those who attended public secondary schools performed better in the NECO conducted physics examinations than WAEC. Recommendations were made for the improvement of the science education in public schools with special reference to physics as a subject to assist students who could not afford the fees of private schools, WAEC as an examination body should be conscious of the fact that candidates perform relatively poorer in their physics examinations when compared with another examination body.