Public schools are government owned and believed to be subsidized in terms of tuition and other financial requirements.
Private schools are established by private or corporate bodies for the purpose of profit-making, and hence, tuition fees are significantly exorbitant with regards to the general populace.
With the above points, it is generally believed that the well-to-do citizens send their children and wards to the private-owned schools, while the average masses send theirs to the public schools believed to be subsidized by the government.
A little comparison of both schools would ensue in this content, and I would love to have your comments and contributions.
A.
Private schools are more expensive than public schools. Private-owned schools are generally out to make profits, and investment in the structures and facilities is huge to attract parents who can afford to send their children to the schools. In public schools, however, you will see all classes of students whose parents are mostly average or below average, although some high-class parents still choose to have their children train in public schools. It is mostly through sponsorships like grants or scholarships that average or low-class students are found in private schools.
B.
Academic standards: This debate is subjective. In Nigeria, for example, private schools only began to surface in the last two or three decades due to the financial implications involved. You will agree with me that it will be financially demanding to pay ten professors in a private school as compared to the public schools, where the government has taken responsibility for such salaries in their national budgets. It is still dicey to state which is more academically sound, as we have seen private-owned institutions produce academically sound products.
Publicly owned schools also have lots of bureaucracy to make funding available to institutions, which downplays the required academic standards that would be delivered.
The students in private schools are also limited in number, and this affords tutors a near one-to-one tutor-student relationship compared to public schools, where the students are numerous and there is hardly a tutor-student relationship. The political will of the government, when enhanced, also brings to public schools equipment and facilities that cannot be readily affordable in private schools. In Nigeria, public schools are not left out of the compulsory purchase of educational materials (e.g., handouts) for the students, which is a means of financial extortion by lecturers. The private schools have also not been exonerated of aiding in manipulating results for their students, meaning students bribe their way to excellence, and sometimes the private schools portray their students as intellectuals so as to boost their patronage, which is debatable. I will thus leave you to answer the question as to which school is superior in terms of academic standards!
C.
Extracurricular activities: Definitely the public schools. You may wish to agree with me that, in public schools where you will find all manner of classes of students aggregated, there is bound to be a spiced variety. I remember when I was chased out of my class for not being able to pay my tuition fees. I was surprised and glad to have playmates who claimed to have also not paid but had actually paid but wanted to enjoy the company of playfulness. In the basic and high schools of public schools, you will agree with me that time is readily allotted for extracurricular activities. In public schools, the songs during assembly are more resonating, interesting, and fun, and many of these songs are wrongly sung. But yes, those of us that attended the public songs enjoyed it to the fullest, as we could modify these songs at will. Private schools have their joyful moments of extracurricular activities, but they are usually under strict supervision as they are careful not to offend any of their students.
D.
Social vices: public schools are usually considered unchecked and are thus more prone to involvement in social vices as compared to private schools, where security is tighter and the number of students can easily be monitored. Private institutions are usually considered glorified secondary schools where students' lives and activities are dictated by the authorities of the institutions. Some public schools have similar restrictions, though not as strict as those seen in private schools.
E.
Value, Reputation, and Recognition: This is difficult to side with; however, public schools have superior reputation and recognition when certificates are presented by graduates during job hunting. Private schools have also started getting recognition with their certificates.
F.
Competitions: There has been a widespread accentuation of participation by private schools, especially high schools, in national and international competitions, which has brought the majority of these private schools to the limelight. This may be a pointer to the high standard of their academic standards, which is yet debatable.
These are a few of the variances I see in both private and public schools. As an individual, my bias would still be for public schools.
Thank you for reading. I would love to have your comments and contributions 🤗