IMPACT OF PRIVATE COST OF EDUCATION ON STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KADUNA SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT, KADUNA STATE

Abstract

The study explored the impact of private cost of education on students’ participation in public secondary schools in Kaduna South Local Government, Kaduna State. Two research questions and hypotheses guided the study. Survey research design was used. The target population was made up of 53 principals, 820 teachers and 2,375. A sample of 325 respondents, comprising 5 principals, 82 teachers and 238 students, were selected using research advisor. The instrument named “private cost of education and student participation questionnaire (PCESPQ)” used for data collection was validated by experts in the field of education administration. The reliability co-efficient of the instrument was determined using Cronbach Alpha statistic and a reliability coefficient of 0.79 was obtained. Descriptive statistics of frequency, mean and standard deviation were used to describe data, while analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance, using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0. Findings in research questions one and two indicates an average mean of 3.02 and 3.35 respectfully, which is higher than the decision mean of 3.00 while the two hypotheses were rejected. This implies that tuition and examination fees had impact on students’ participation in public secondary schools in the study area. It is concluded that tuition and examination fees affect students’ participation in secondary education thereby, lowering the participation of students in secondary schools. Therefore, Kaduna State Government should ensure that students, day or boarding undertaking secondary education in public secondary schools should not be charged any fees.