Service Quality of Public Preschool Education in Malaysia: Perceptions of Parents

The increasing number of preschools in Malaysia is a good sign of education development in the country. However, certain issues have risen up when each of the preschools offer different types of benefits such as curriculum, ambiance, quality of teachers and facilities that may lead to non-standardised quality of education. This study aims to explore the level of quality of public preschools in Malaysia from parents' perspectives. In Malaysia, there are four different government agencies providing the education that is (1) Jabatan Kemajuan Masyarakat or Community Development Department (local acronym is KEMAS) under Ministry of Rural and Regional Development, (2) Jabatan Perpaduan Negara or National Unity Department (local acronym is PERPADUAN) under the Ministry of National Unity and Social Integration, (3) Ministry of Education and (4) State Islamic Religion Department. Twelve parents who enrolled their children in public preschools were interviewed and the data were analyzed through content analysis. The result shows there are five main factors that constitute the quality of public preschool education in Malaysia, namely (1) school values, (2) school atmosphere, (3) health and wellbeing, (4) teachers and (5) facilities.Abstrak: Pertambahan jumlah prasekolah merupakan satu petanda yang baik kepada pembangunan pendidikan di Malaysia. Namun beberapa isu mula timbul apabila perbezaan jenis prasekolah ini menawarkan perkhidmatan yang berbeza seperti dari segi kurikulum, suasana pembelajaran, kualiti guru dan kemudahan-kemudahan pengajaran dan pembelajaran. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk melihat kualiti prasekolah yang disediakan oleh pihak kerajaan dari kaca mata ibubapa. Di Malaysia, terdapat empat agensi kerajaan yang menawarkan sistem pendidikan prasekolah iaitu (1) Jabatan Kemajuan Masyarakat (KEMAS), (2) Jabatan Perpaduan Negara (PERPADUAN), (3) Kementerian Pelajaran dan (4) Jabatan Agama Islam Negeri. Dua belas orang ibu bapa yang menghantar anak-anak mereka ke prasekolah kerajaan telah ditemubual. Data yang diterima dianalisa menggunakan ‘content analysis’. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan terdapat lima faktor utama yang menyumbang kepada kualiti prasekolah iaitu (1) nilai-nilai sekolah, (2) persekitaran sekolah, (3) kesihatan dan kesejahteraan, (4) guru-guru dan (5) kemudahan-kemudahan.