1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The parameter or yardstick in the measurement or determine into of one’s achievement, success or failure on an as signed duty, specific task, education and or, in a business endeavour is by their various subjects of study in Nigeria is a thing of long time origin. And the appraisal of student’s performance in shorthand is not an exemption. The importance of shorthand as a subject taught in secondary school in Nigeria cannot be over-emphasized. This is because a secretary arising trained without equipping him/her with the rudiments, basic principles and a well led down foundation of shorthand would be compared to a soldier without “shooting knowledge”. It is this vain that many researchers have studied our school system to identify the various means, channel and on procedure of impacting this knowledge to our students especially secretaries.
Along the same line, too a lot of them in the recent past have tried to compare the performance of students in shorthand in our private and public schools without any specification of the particular level of education. Today, it has become of vital importance that a study be carried out critically taking the public and private secondary and commercial schools into consideration to draw a comparison at their different students performance in shorthand.
This performance of student is a far cry based on the expected success of institutions of these kinds or nature. A lot of reasons have been adduced for this in spite of the preparedness of teachers of those schools to deliver. Some of the students absent themselves from school for a long time. This effects their performance because they have lost touch of the essence of regular practice and continuity in shorthand studies.
Secondly, students do not avail themselves with the use of books, which suppose to enhance their performance. This is further caused by poor reading habit of some of them and loads of domestic work, which their parents engaged them in.
The educational background that effect the public and private schools students in shorthand, it effect public schools students performance in shorthand very poor in the instance that public cannot know how to read and write shorthand faster because they are not interested on the shorthand and some of their teacher’s do not know it and in a work place you can see that for advertisement of secretary’s, many of them are required commercial schools students rather than secondary schools students, but in private schools students performance they perform very well in shorthand and work is very easy for them to get, example, institutions of higher learning and university some are not doing shorthand because it is very expensive to learn.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The subject, shorthand is one of the major subjects taught in comprehensive secondary and commercial secondary schools in both public and private institutions. As a result, it constitutes a big obstacle to the success of the students. There is the persistent problem of high failure rate and attrition in shorthand classes.
Like mathematics, it is expected to have particular method and special problem among other things. It is on realization of this problem that the researcher compared the performance of the students in the school system in the subject.

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The researcher’s primary purpose of embarking on the study,
1. To investigate into the student’s performance in shorthand of private and public secondary schools.
2. To compare their degree of academic excellence in the subject.
3. To make recommendation for future improvement in the teaching and learning of shorthand.

1.4 SCOPE/LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The scope of this project study covers only the comparison of public and private schools students’ performance in shorthand in Enugu South Local Government Area.
The following schools were studied.
1. Public schools
i. Command Secondary school Enugu
ii. Girl’s High school Awkunanaw, Enugu
iii. Idaw River Girl’s secondary school, Enugu
iv. Union secondary school, Awkunanaw Enugu
2. PRIVATE SCHOOL
i. Queens Comprehensive Secondary School, Enugu
ii. Salvation vocational college Enugu
iii. Immaculate commercial college, Enugu
iv. Niger school of commerce, Enugu

1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. Do private schools students perform better than public school students in shorthand?
2. What are the factors responsible for either better or poor performance of students in shorthand?
3. What impact has shorthand created in our public and private schools?
4. To what extent do public students lack interest in shorthand?

1.6 IMPORTANCE/SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The study is significant in the sense that is aims at comparing the academic performance in shorthand of both private and public secondary schools students in Enugu educational zone, Enugu State of Nigeria.
The study may also enable educational planners to find out problems hindering excellent academic performance in shorthand and also, help to find lasting solutions to the problems that contribute to the student’s failure in shorthand and in secondary school’s. it will also, help to improve performance in the subject and create more positive attitude to it, on the side of students and populace.
The study also will be of help to subsequent researchers that may be interested in doing more work in this area of study with aim of improving any performance in the subject. And again, it will help to disabuse the mind of male folks in studying the subject by comprehending that more of the founders of shorthand are woman and therefore the subject is not for a particular sex.