ABSTRACT
This study investigated cost and students’ learning outcomes in selected senior secondary school subject in Lagos state with a view to determine the contribution of the invested funds by the Lagos state government as well as different households in Lagos state senior secondary school education to students’ learning outcomes.
The students’ WASSCE results for five years (2005-2009) were taken as a measure of students’ learning outcome. A total of three hundred students from twelve senior secondary schools in the four most urban local governments in Lagos state were selected for the study.
The data collected were analyzed using ANOVA, t-test and descriptive statistical tools to provide answers to the research questions, and it was found out that; there is significant difference in the performance of students who incur high, moderate and no cost of education in Lagos state, students in the same cost of education category do not perform the same way, but performed differently, there is significant difference between the performance in one category and another category. The high school fees students recorded the highest mean performance of 5.88, followed by the moderate school fees students with 4.51 mean performances, and the no school fees students having the least mean performance of 2.22 for the five years considered in this study.
The study recommended that the Lagos state government, parents and managers of the government school should emulate the resource allocation and utilization strategy of the schools in the high school fees category to improve students’ learning outcomes in their schools. Also, periodic evaluation of the disbursed funds in education is necessary in Lagos state, to ascertain its effects on students’ learning outcomes or performance.
