Parents' challenges against the intention of the implementation of the 12-year compulsory education policy in Malaysia
List of Authors
  • Juliana Mohd Janjang

Keyword
  • Challenge, compulsory education, parent, policy, qualitative, school

Abstract
  • Compulsory education policies supported by the law have been implemented throughout the world for centuries, including in Malaysia. However, the implementation of the law is only limited to 6 years of compulsory education at the primary level as opposed to at the international level, which reaches a period of 8 to 12 years of compulsory schooling. Therefore, this study was conducted to explore the challenges faced by parents if Malaysia intends to implement compulsory education in Malaysia within a period of 12 years, starting from one year in preschool until the end of schooling at the secondary level. This study was conducted using a qualitative approach involving several participants selected through purposive sampling. The exploration results through open-ended questions, focus group discussions, and researcher notes were analysed using a thematic analysis, which then received expert consensus at an excellent level with a Cohen Kappa index value exceeding 0.81. The study discovered four themes of challenges faced by parents in implementing the 12-year compulsory education policy in Malaysia, namely parents' financial issues, school-related issues that are a challenge for parents, parents' difficulty in managing their children, and issues faced by children, all of which have resulted in challenges to parents. In this vein, these challenges should be emphasized because parents are the main implementers of the compulsory education policy, which also determines the success of the intended 12-year compulsory education policy.

Reference
  • 1. Abdul Rashid, S. M. R. & Samat, N. (2018). Family poverty and its influence on the low education levels of rural communities: Case study in Bachok District, Kelantan. e-Bangi : Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 15(2), 11–23.
    2. Arshat, Z. & Baharudin, R. (2011). The association between socioeconomic factors and the quality of parenting behavior in at-risk families. Jurnal Kemanusiaan, 17(Jun 2011), 57–65.
    3. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi: 10.1191/1478088706qp063o
    4. Cabus, S. J., & De Witte, K. (2011). Does school time matter?-On the impact of compulsory education age on school dropout. Economics of Education Review, 30(6), 1384–1398. https://doi:10.1016/j.econedurev.2011.07.003
    5. Chakrabarti, S. (2014). China’ s compulsory education law. Institute of Chinese Studies.
    6. Chang, P. L., Hsu, C. W., & Chang, P. C. (2011). Fuzzy Delphi method for evaluating hydrogen production technologies. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 36(21), 14172-14179. https://doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2011.05.045
    7. Chu, H. C., & Hwang, G. J. (2008). A Delphi-based approach to developing expert systems with the cooperation of multiple experts. Expert Systems with Applications, 34(4), 2826–2840. https://doi: 10.1016/j.eswa.2007.05.034.
    8. DeCicca, P., & Krashinsky, H. (2020). Does education reduce teen fertility? Evidence from compulsory schooling laws. Journal of Health Economics, 69, 102268, 1-12. https://doi:10.1016/j.jhealeco.2019.102268
    9. Fisher, J. (2017). A mixed-methods case study of compulsory education. The Patton College of Education, Ohio University.
    10. Gulesci, S., Meyersson, E., & Trommlerová, S. K. (2019). The effect of compulsory schooling expansion on mothers ’ attitudes toward domestic violence in Turkey. The World Bank Economic Review, 0(0), 1 21. https://doi: 10.1093/wber/lhy021
    11. Iksan, H. Z., & Saper, M. N. (2016). The process of validity and reliability for verbal questioning research in the classroom. Global Journal of Educational Studies, 2(1), 14-25. https://doi: 10.5296/gjes.v2i1.8755
    12. Iksan, H. Z., Hamjah, S. H., Tengku Puji, T. I. Z., & Saper, M. N. (2016). The quality of knowledge based on the validity and reliability of data in the spread of Islamic knowledge: A discussion based on qualitative research. Jurnal Hadhari, 8(1), 13–30.
    13. Jamian, A. R. (2011). The problem of reading and writing skills in rural primary school students. Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Melayu, 1(1), 1–12.
    14. Kamoo, G. (2013). The Influence of Family on The Academic Achievement of Indian Students in Junior High School. University of Malaya.
    15. Katz, M. S. (1976). A History of Compulsory Education Laws. Bloomington, Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.
    16. Kirdar, M. G., Dayioglu, M., & Koç, I. (2014). Does longer compulsory education equalize schooling by gender and rural/urban residence? World Bank Economic Review, 30(3), 549–579. https://doi:10.1093/wber/lhv035
    17. Landis, J. R., & Koch, G. G. (1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data Biometrics, 33(1), 159–174.
    18. Mathison, S. (1988). Why triangulate? Educational Researcher, 17(2), 13–17. https://doi: 10.3102/0013189X017002013
    19. Merriam, S. B., & Tisdell, E. J. (2016). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation (4th Ed.). Jossey-Bass: A Wiley Brand.
    20. Milena, Z., Dainora, G., & Alin, S. (2008). Qualitative research methods: a comparison between focus-group and in-depth interview. Annals of the University of Oradea, Economic Science Series, 17(4), 1279- 1283
    21. Ministry of Education and Culture Finland. (2020). Compulsory education to be extended in August 2021: reform aims to improve conditions for learning and wellbeing among young people and to increase employment rate. https://minedu.fi/en//compulsory-education-to-be-extended-inaugust-2021-reform aims-to-improve-conditions-for-learning-and-wellbeing-among-young-peopleand-to-increase employment-rate
    22. Ministry of Education Malaysia. (2013). Malaysia education development plan 2013 - 2025. Ministry of Education Malaysia.
    23. Ministry of Education Malaysia. (2020). Malaysia education statistics 2020. Educational Policy Planning and Research Division, Ministry of Education Malaysia.
    24. Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development. (2018). Notice of questions for oral answers of the first meeting, the first term of Dewan Rakyat, the fourteenth parliament, the meeting of Dewan Rakyat. Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development.
    25. Parliament of Malaysia. (2018). Official statement of the parliament of Dewan Rakyat. Parliament of Malaysia.
    26. Parliament of Malaysia. (2019). Non-verbal answer questions 2019, first meeting, second term, fourteenth parliament 2019. Parliament of Malaysia.
    27. Prais, S. J. (1955). The formal theory of social mobility. Population Studies, 9(1), 72–81. https://doi:10.1080/00324728.1955.10405053
    28. Raimondi, E., & Vergolini, L. (2019). Everyone in school: The effects of compulsory schooling age on dropout and completion rates. European Journal of Education, 54, 471–490. https://doi: 10.1111/ejed.12356.
    29. Reid, C., & Watson, K. (2016). Compulsory schooling in Australia: Perspectives from students, parents and educators. Palgrave Macmillan.
    30. Shi, X. (2016). The impact of educational fee reduction reform on school enrolment in rural China. The Journal of Development Studies, 52(12), 1791-1809. https://doi: 10.1080/00220388.2016.1156094
    31. Subra, T., Abdullah, M. A. I. L., & Devi, K. (2019). Family’s socio-economic influence on the dropout of Indian students: A case study in the district of Kuala Muda, Kedah. International Journal of Modern Trends in Social Sciences, 2(9), 77–91. https://doi:10.35631/ijmtss.29007
    32. Sufean Hussin. (2009). Malaysia Education Development Policy: Theory and Analysis (2nd Ed.). Institute of Language and Literature.
    33. Taahyadin, F. (2020). The influence of school culture and school improvement on the quality of secondary schools in the state of Kedah. Universiti Utara Malaysia.
    34. Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
    35. Wiersma, W., & Jurs, S. G. (2005). Research methods in education: an introduction (7th Ed.). Allyn and Bacon.
    36. Xiao, Y., Li, L., & Zhao, L. (2017). Education on the cheap: The long-run effects of a free compulsory education reform in rural China. Journal of Comparative Economics, 45(3), 544–562. https:// doi: 10.1016/j.jce.2017.07.003.
    37. Yaakob, M. M. F., Yunus, J., & Yusof, H. (2016). A measurement model of school culture: A study in a national school in Malaysia. Jurnal Kepimpinan Pendidikan, 3(4), 58–71. https://doi:10.2307/2975585
    38. Yadav, R. K. (2012). Right to education in India: A Study. SSRN Electronic Journal, 21. https://doi: 10.2139/ssrn.2014933.
    39. Young, E., Green, H. A., Roehrich-Patrick, L., Joseph, L., & Gibson, T. (2003). Do K-12 School Facilities affect education outcomes?. The Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations.