Keywords
academic performance
WASSCE
Article Number
041Abstract
This study investigated the three-dimensional connection between budgetary allocation , language proficiency, and students’ academic achievement in public senior secondary schools in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study examined the causes of the continued existence of unequal academic performance despite steady increases in educational funding using data from the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) from 2013 to 2022. The study employed a correlational research approach to investigate the connection between financial inputs and cognitive outputs. The Questionnaire on Educational Budgetary Allocation, Language Proficiency, and Academic Performance (QEBALPAP) was utilized to gather secondary data in addition to WASSCE results and official government budget records. The analysis was conducted using Pearson Product-Moment Correlation and multiple regression analysis.he study's central hypothesis was that students' proficiency in English, the primary language of teaching, determines how well financial investments in educational resources work. The results showed a weak, negative, and non-significant relationship between academic success and overall financial allocation. Importantly, the findings showed that when students' language ability is low, more funding does not improve their performance because linguistic constraints make it difficult for them to effectively engage with the financed instructional resources. The study comes to the conclusion that without equivalent knowledge of the instructional language, financing alone is insufficient for academic performance. In order to guarantee that expenditures directly improve the linguistic and cognitive competencies necessary for WASSCE success, recommendations include the strategic allocation of funds toward language-enhancement programs and state-of-the-art language laboratories, as well as improved accountability mechanisms and school-level budget autonomy.References
Adedokun, T., Awung, F. N., Usadolo, S. E., & Mheta, G. (2025). Language Teaching and Inequality Issues in the Use of Technology in Higher Education: A Sociological Approach. Journal of African Languages & Literary Studies (JoALLS), 6(3).
Adefisoye, T. O., & Ifedayo, T. E. (2020). Only the Fittest Would Survive: Nigeria’s Policy Environment and the Dilemma of Private Universities. Elizade University, Ilara-Mokin.
ADEJUMOBI, H. O. (2023). TEXT QUALITY FACTORS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES IN ENGLISH READING COMPREHENSION AMONG SELECTED PUBLIC SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN OGUN STATE, NIGERIA (Doctoral dissertation).
Afolaranmi, B. (2020). EDUCATIONAL WASTAGE RATE AND INTERNAL EFFICIENCY IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA. NIGERIA (October 02, 2020).
Ajadi, T. A. (2016). Structural Modeling of Teacher Characteristics, Skills in Teaching, and Students’ Achievement in Secondary School Physics.
Akanbi, A. O., & Omosewo, E. O. (2018). Teachers’ characteristics and availability of laboratory as predictors of senior school students’ performance in physics in Ilorin, Nigeria. Journal of Teacher Education and Educators, 7(1), 43-56.
Akinyemi, I. A., & Gbenu, J. B. (2020). Student enrolment, global utilisation rate and academic performance in public tertiary institutions in Lagos State, Nigeria. UNIZIK Journal of Educational Management and Policy, 4(1), 80-90.
Amanchukwu, R. N., & Ololube, N. P. (2015). Managing school plant for effective service delivery in public secondary schools in Rivers State of Nigeria. Human Resource Management Research, 5(4), 95-102.
Damon, A., Glewwe, P., Wisniewski, S., & Sun, B. (2016). Education in developing countries-what policies and programmes affect learning and time in school?. Stockholm: Expertgruppen för biståndsanalys (EBA).
De Guzman, N. P. (2020). Public Expenditure on Education. In Quality Education (pp. 693-702). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Dolan, C. T. (2018). Methods for Rigorously and Responsively Improving Children's Holistic Learning and Development in Crisis Contexts: Towards an Evidence-Based Education in Emergencies Field (Doctoral dissertation, New York University).
Fakeye, B., & Fakeye, D. O. (2016). Instruction in text-structure as a determinant of senior secondary school students’ achievement in English narrative text in Ido Local Government Area, Oyo State. AFRREV IJAH: An International Journal of Arts and Humanities, 5(2), 270-283.
FEMI-ADEOYE, K. O. (2020). STAKEHOLDERS’PERCEPTIONS OF THE USE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR BIOLOGY INSTRUCTION IN OYO STATE, NIGERIA (Doctoral dissertation, UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN).
Glewwe, P., Siameh, C., Sun, B., & Wisniewski, S. (2021). School resources and educational outcomes in developing countries. The Routledge handbook of the economics of education, 218-252.
Hedgcock, J. S., & Ferris, D. R. (2018). Teaching readers of English: Students, texts, and contexts. Routledge.
Ibrahim, J., & Gwandu, S. A. (2016). Language policy on education in Nigeria: Challenges of multilingual education and future of English language. American Research Journal of English and Literature, 2(1), 1-10.
Idowu, O. O. (2016). An Investigation of Mathematics Performance of High School Students in Lagos state, Nigeria: External Factors. Urban Education Research & Policy Annuals, 4(1).
Idrees, M. (2022). Learning through Play: The intervention of Public Playgrounds Designs for the Learning of Children in the City of Lahore (Doctoral dissertation, Doctoral dissertation, Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design).
JIRE-ALAO, E. O. (2023). TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS FACTORS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES IN ENGLISH STUDIES AMONG PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS IN THE IBADAN METROPOLIS, NIGERIA (Doctoral dissertation).
Kola-Olusanya, A. (2020). Pivotal Issues in Higher Education Development in Nigeria. Pivotal Issues in Higher Education Development in Nigeria.
Muralidharan, K., Singh, A., & Ganimian, A. J. (2019). Disrupting education? Experimental evidence on technology-aided instruction in India. American Economic Review, 109(4), 1426-1460.
Odusanya, S. P. (2017). Comparative evaluation of basic education programmes in Central Region, Ghana and South-West, Nigeria (Doctoral dissertation, University of Lagos (Nigeria)).
OLAIYA, F. (2019). Budgetary allocation, resource factors and quality of graduates in public universities in oyo and lagos states, Nigeria (Doctoral dissertation).
Olasanmi, A. O. (2024). Counterinsurgency Rhetoric and Human Rights Abuse in Nigeria (Doctoral dissertation, Nottingham Trent University (United Kingdom)).
Owusu, S. (2025). Essays on the Economics of Education Policy (Doctoral dissertation, The University of New Mexico).
Umar, Y. (2019). STEM education as a catalyst for national development: Problems and prospects in Nigeria. International Learning Science and Mathematics Journal, 14(3), 48-59.
Villela, R., & Paredes, J. J. (2022). Empirical analysis on public expenditure for education, human capital and economic growth: evidence from Honduras. Economies, 10(10), 241.
Wolters, C. A., & Brady, A. C. (2021). College students’ time management: A self-regulated learning perspective. Educational psychology review, 33(4), 1319-1351.
Yasin, G. M. (2023). Determinants of academic performance of pupils in public primary schools in somaliland country (Doctoral dissertation, Doctoral dissertation, Unicaf University]. Unicaf University Repository. https://www. unicaf. org/thesis-publications/determinants-of-academicperformance-of-pupils-in-public-primary-schools-in-somaliland-country).
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2026 LAWAL Sharafdeen Atanda, SALAUDEEN Rafiyat Iyabo (PhD), OSENI, Kayode Aliu (Author)