Private sector participation in secondary education in Nigeria: Implications for national development

The study examines private sector participation in secondary education in Nigeria and its implications for national development. The population consisted all the providers and recipients of private secondary education in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Simple random sampling was used to select 200 providers and recipients of private secondary education across the six Area Councils in the FCT. An instrument designated Private Sector Participation in Secondary Education (PSPSE) was used to collect data. The data were analysed using Chi-Square method to test for the acceptance or rejection of the study hypotheses. The findings revealed that the academic performance of students in private secondary schools is better than the academic performance of students in public secondary schools. The study further revealed that private secondary schools have better infrastructure than public secondary schools in Nigeria, but private secondary schools contribute less to the development of human resources than public schools in Nigeria. Recommendations are proffered to make private secondary education more viable and responsive to the needs of the society.