Kasa, Zakaria

Mahyuddin, Rahil

Md. Aroff, Abdul Rahman

Mohd Isa, Abd Majid

Muhamad, Muhd Fauzi

Raffiee, Abdul Rahim

Wan Ali, Wan Zah

Universiti Putra Malaysia Institutional Repository

UPM Research Report 1998: Volume 2STUDENTS' ASPIRATIONS AND PERCEPTIONSTOWARDS 'SEKOLAH PONDOK'Muhd Fauzi Muhamad, Abdul Rahman Md. Aroff,Rahil Mahyuddin, Abdul Majid Mohd. Isa, ZakariaKasa, Wan Zah Wan Ali and Abdul Rahim RaffieeDepartment of Education, Faculty of Educational StudiesUniversiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor,MalaysiaKeywords: students, aspirations, perception, 'sekolahpondok'.Introduction'Pondok' originates from the Arabic word "funduq" whichmeans a place or shelter. Hence, it can be inferred that 'se-kolah pondok' consists of small buildings for the temporaryshelter of students. 'Sekolah pondok' began in 1450 inMalacca but it was only in the 19th century that it spread tothe other states like Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah. Itreached its height of popularity in the early 20th century dueto highly trained religious teachers, strong religious beliefsamong the Malays, adequate facilities and secularism. Muchof the education was influenced by the school of thought inMecca. However, by 1918, 'sekolah pondok' began to wane.The contributing factors include the increasing acceptance ofthe English and Malay schools, lack of knowledgeable re-ligious teachers and financial support as well as the conflict-ing views of scholars concerning Islamic education. Inspite of the pressures and challenges, 'sekolah pondok' wasnot completely eliminated. In fact with the current socialproblems among adolescents, parents and the society at largeare reviewing the importance of religious education and theinculcation of values. As a result, many parents begin tosend their children to 'sekolah pondok'. The questions are:Will 'sekolah pondok' regain its past popularity? What arethe effects on the students? Will employers and society ac-cept the students? These were. the questions to be answeredby this study.Materials and MethodsThis is a descriptive study, utilising both the quantitative andqualitative approaches. The main variables were aspirations350and perception. Under the qualitative approach,open-endeditems were administered. Under the quantitative approach aLikert-type items were mainly used.Results and DiscussionThe respondents of the study were 842 students of which 514(61%) females and 328 (39%) males. The age of the subjectswas between 11-66 years and their length of study at the 'se-kolah pondok' was 1-13 years. The number of schools in the~tu~y was 7 (5 in Kelantan and 2 in Kedah). The findingsindicated that the majority of the students came from theGovernment Secondary Schools (46.8%) and Non-Gov~rnment Religious Schools (27.7%). The students' per-cep.tlOntowards. 'sekolah pondok' was mainly positive bywhich 8~.4% said that the education received was adequate;89 % Said that they acquired a lot of knowledge and 95.9%stated that they could study religion in depth. The studentsalso had positive perceptions towards the community's viewof them. They were confident that their knowledge will behighly regarded (50.1%), that the community will encouragethe development of the 'sekolah pondok' (54.7%), and thecommunity will always support the school financially andmaterially (45.4%). Their perception towards the views ofemployers was equally positive. They were confident of get-ting jobs easily (46.5%), they could adjust well in the work-ing environment (53.6%) and that employers will not havenegative perceptions towards students with 'pondok' qualifi-cations (45.6%). With regards to students' aspirations, 42.8%would like to become religious teachers, 13.0% religiouslecturers, 7.3% professionals like doctors, lawyers and ar-chitects, 92.4% would like to further their studies in the uni-versities, religious schools or colleges.ConclusionsThe fact that parents, society and the students themselveshave positive perceptions towards 'pondok' education, there-fore it is pertinent that the 'sekolah pondok' should be givenequal recognition and financial support as other governmentschools. There should be collaboration between 'sekolahpondok' and all relevant agencies towards the students' de-velopment and opportunity in the society.Supported by IRPA Grant 07-O2..()4-OO35

Students' aspirations and perceptions towards 'sekolah pondok'

http://psasir.upm.edu.my/43208/1/Students%20aspirations%20and%20perceptions%20towards%20%27sekolah%20pondok%27.pdf

Students' aspirations and perceptions towards 'sekolah pondok'

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