INFLUENCE OF SCHOOL TYPE AND GENDER ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND INTEREST IN ECONOMICS IN ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA

This research examined influence of school type and gender on secondary school students’ academic achievement and interest in economics in Enugu State, Nigeria. To achieve the purpose of this study, four research questions and four hypotheses was formulated to direct the study. Ex-post facto research design was adopted for the study. A sample of three hundred and thirty-eight (338) students was randomly selected from public and private secondary schools for the study. The instrument used for data collection was the Economics Interest Inventory (EII) and First term examination marks assigned by Economics teachers to SS3 Economics students’, the instrument was adopted and subjected to validation by experts in measurement and evaluation. The reliability estimate of the instruments was established through Cronbach Alpha statistics value. Data were analyzed using t-test statistic. The results showed that there is no significant difference between public and private secondary school students’ Economics achievement. Private schools students performed significantly better than their public school counterparts. There is no significant difference between male and female senior secondary school students’ achievement in Economics. There is no significant difference in public and private school students’ interest in Economics and there is no significant difference between male and female students in Economics. It was recommended among others that more supervisory roles be played on public and private schools teachers to make them work better on their students.