Somehow, students’ academic performances are linked to the school where they are studying. Students tend to seek for a school or university with good quality of education that could possibly help them prepare for the future. A student can freely choose between Government Schools and Private Schools. It is still a debate on which school provides better education (Ahmad & Bhat, 2016). The government, and especially the parents are very much concerned with the quality and volume of learning acquired by their children, wards and citizens as this is related to the quality and quantity of the contribution which the individual can make to his immediate family, community and the nation as a whole (Thorndike, 1931).
Learning has been so much associated with the school that some people think that learning goes only in school. This view of learning has been greatly reinforced by such reference to school as institution of learning and to Universities, Polytechnics, and College of Education as institution of higher learning (Okoye, 1987).
According to Muhammad Shabbir of 2014, quality of human resources depends upon the quality of education of a country. Sustainable economic development needs skilled manpower which is raised through productivity and efficiency of individuals that is only possible through education. Based on US department of Education, office of Educational Research and improvement July 1997 about 16 million students are currently enrolled in the nation public schools in kindergarten through grade 12 and other 6 million are enrolled in private school. Because private school are often perceived to be more successful in teaching students with at least some empirical basis, many reform proposal for public school have looked to the private sector for models to emulate. There is no doubting the fact that much learning goes on in school. The school is particularly and specifically arranged so as to facilitate effective learning. Unfortunately the poor condition of our schools, particularly the primary schools today in the nation raises a lot of anxiety. A cursory look at these school in spite of government efforts reveals schools dominated by dilapidated buildings, school void of good furniture and equipment, schools where instructional materials are either not provided or are inadequate; school that are under-staffed; schools, where teacher salaries and allowances are not promptly paid, schools that have not been inspected for the last 15 years; schools where there are no discipline among other things.
The quality of school facilities and teacher absenteeism are such factors which are correlated to the performance of students. Quality of school facilities positively effects on school performance while teacher absenteeism is negatively correlated (D. Suryadarma et al. 2006). School administration and management also affect the school performance. Effective administration enhances the school productivity and teacher’s instructional skills (H. Begum and M. M. Sadruddin 2013). Professionalism, leadership styles, management & development of resources and parents-school co-operation are such factors of school administration have a positive impact on school performance. Private school head teachers-principals have great vision for the improvement of their schools performance regarding to these factors as compared to public head teachers-principals (M. N. Tariq et al. 2012, A. Khan 2012). The teacher job satisfaction influences of his or her teaching character and is a role of the real connection between what one wants from teaching and what one observes it is proposing to a teacher. Job satisfaction is one those factors effecting on the performance of a teacher. More satisfied teachers perform better (Alimi Baba Gana 2011). At the Kindergarten level the private schools have an advantage in job satisfaction as they are more satisfied by their status and reputation than those of public kindergarten teachers even they have rather than low salaries (E. C. Papanastasiou and M. Zembylas 2005).
Several studies by Sociologist, Psychologists and Educationists showed that the type of schools a learner attends has profound influence on his academic achievement. For instance, Bibby and Peil (1974) noted that children who attended private primary schools performed better than pupils in public schools. This view is also supported by Lioyd (1966) as he contended further that the public schools which saw education as good thing, tended to leave the question of educational success or failure in the hands of the public and their parents. This implies that the business of education is not taken with all the seriousness it demands in the public schools. This of course is what may be regarded as the general apathy of the citizenry to government’s owned business or property. A situation that has resulted in lackadaisical attitude of government’s workers, including teachers in the public schools tend to believe that an intelligent child would succeed automatically at school without any active assistance coming from them.
In a study jointly carried out by the Federal Government of Nigeria, UNICEF and UNESCO in 1977 to monitor the learning achievement of primary school pupils throughout the Federation, it was shown that most of the private schools had means in the three areas tested higher than the national means and that of their public counterpart. Similarly, Yoloye (1998) while assessing the situation of education in Osun State, compared the quality of education in five states of the federation namely, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo. He compared performance between urban and rural schools; private and public schools, as well as between male and female primary school pupils. He concluded that while Osun State comes last in almost all the sub-sector analyzed, the only cheering exception is in the private schools where it performed better than other states and indeed exceeded the grand mean. He did not give reasons for low or high achievement.
In a study carried out in the U.S. by Lubienski and Lubienski (2006), they compared academic achievement among charter, private and public schools. One of the major findings from this study showed that private schools scored higher than charter and public schools. In a related study carried out also in the U.S. by Braun, Jenkins and Grigg (2006), they compared the performance of pupils in private and public schools in both reading and mathematics involving grades 4 and 8, results showed that the private schools performed better than the public schools not only in reading and mathematics, but also in the two grades (4th & 8th) involved in the study. Overall, findings indicated that the average private school mean score was higher than the average public school mean score, and that the difference was statistically significant.
According to National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) which is representative at national level for the assessment of American’s students’ knowledge in various subject areas, reports that private schools performed better than public schools in all major subject areas including mathematics and science (U.S. Department of Education 2012). In another study of the analysis of American students’ achievement in mathematics, the private schools outperformed in the majority of cases, while public schools perform well after accounting for the facts (C. Lubienski 2006, P. E. Peterson and E. Llaudet 2006). But National Center for
Education Statistics (NCES) published a study containing surprising facts that public school students are performing better than private school students by analyzing the data NAEP 2003. But a causal relationship (public school attendance causes better school achievement) and limited data was employed for this study. The NAEP data is not appropriate to evaluate the performance of public or private schools on the basis of school attendance (S. Watkins 2006).
Albert Bandura once stated about the Social Learning Theory. Social learning theory is increasingly cited as an essential component of sustainable natural resource management and the promotion of desirable behavioural change. (Muro & Jeffrey 2008). This theory is based on the idea that everyone learn from interactions with others in a social context. Separately, by observing the behaviors of others, people develop similar behaviors. After observing the behavior of others, people assimilate and imitate that behavior, especially if their observational experiences are positive ones or include rewards related to the observed behavior. According to Bandura, imitation involves the actual reproduction of observed motor activities (Bandura 1977).
According to Vygotsky (1962), Social Learning Theory argues that social interaction precedes development; consciousness and cognition is the end product of socialization and social behaviour. This theory helps everyone to understand how people learn in social contexts and informs how teachers construct active learning communities (Lev Vygotsky, 1962). According to Bandura (1977), people learn from one another, via observation, imitation, and modelling. The theory has often been called a bridge between behaviorist and cognitive learning theories because it encompasses attention, memory, and motivation.
People learn through observing others’ behavior, attitudes, and outcomes of those behaviors (Bandura, 2017). According to Vygotsky (1978) language is the main tool that promotes thinking, develops reasoning, and supports cultural activities like reading and writing. As a result, instructional strategies that promote literacy across the curriculum play a significant role in knowledge construction as well as the combination of whole class leadership, individual and group coaching, and independent learning. Moreover, teachers need to provide the opportunity to students for a managed discussion about their learning. Discussion that has a purpose with substantive comments that build off each other and there is a meaningful exchange between students that results in questions that promote deeper understanding. The teacher, or local topic expert, plays the important role of facilitator, creating the environment where directed and guided interactions can occur. (Vygotsky, 1962).
Teacher leaders’ effectiveness depends not only on their own commitment to be leaders but also on the ability of their school’s principal to skillfully support them and encourage a culture that allows teacher leadership to exist (Ackerman, Moller & Katzenmeyer, 1996). The delivery view of teaching measures quality of teaching from output. The quality of teaching is often defined in terms of what happens to students after a learning experience. Quality teaching should aim at quality learning. It is what learners are able to do after being taught that provides a valid measure of the quality of teaching.
Public and private schools are known to have different quality of education and a good quality of education is one that provides all learners with capabilities they require to become economically productive, develop sustainable livelihoods, contribute to peaceful and democratic societies and enhance individual well-being. Therefore, if a school’s teacher provides a good social interaction that enhance the capability of the students, the students may perform academically better than those students who is currently engaged with those teachers who does not provide an interaction that develops the students. At the end it is still depends on the student's how they perform in school. In addition, not in all times the students from the private school performed much better than the student in public or local school. It is just depending on the situation.
