Students’ attitude and academic achievement in Mathematics: The case of private and public junior high schools in the Abesim Circuit Schools

The study was conducted to find out the attitude of students towards Mathematics learning and their academic achievement in Mathematics at the Public and Private J.H.S. in the Abesim circuit schools. The study involved 174 B.E.C.E. candidates from three Public and three Private Junior High Schools from Abesim Circuit in the Sunyani Municipality. Mathematics Achievement test and Students’ questionnaire were the instruments used to collect data. The data collected were analyzed using Frequency Counts, Percentages, Means and Standard Deviations. The hypotheses raised were tested using the independent samples t-test at 5% significant level. The results showed a significant difference between the attitudes of Private and Public J.H.S. students’ attitude towards Mathematics learning with the Private J.H.S. students exhibiting more positive attitude. The Private J.H.S. students had significantly high achievement than the Public J.H.S. in Mathematics. Mathematics achievement and attitude were closely related variables that play important role in learning mathematics. The researcher had recommended that Mathematics teachers should provide an appropriate conducive environment in which students can learn, appreciate and enjoy the subject. Mathematics teachers should develop positive relationship with students and stress classroom activities that will involve active teaching-learning process and students’ participation in the class.