Issues and Challenges of Outcome-based Education (OBE) Implementation among Malaysian Vocational College Teachers

The establishment of Vocational Colleges is a transformation from the Ministry of Education Malaysia to upgrade Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in producing skilled workers and empowering the utilization latest technology to industries. The evolvement of Vocational Colleges' teaching and learning approaches to Outcome-based Education (OBE) has contributed to curriculum implementation among Vocational Colleges educators. Issues that arise based on previous studies have found problems in implementing OBE among teachers, thus causing the teaching and learning process to be less effective. Therefore, a study was conducted to explore the teaching and learning process based on OBE by Vocational College teacher, especially in the Automotive Technology program in Selangor. This study aims to explore the issues and challenges of OBE implementation in Vocational Colleges. Researchers use a qualitative phenomenology approach to obtain the answers of the formulated research questions. Semi-structured interviews conducted with seven teachers as key informants in this study and two Vocational College administrators as supplementary data. The study results found that the challenges that hinder OBE implementation in Vocational Colleges are the workload of teachers, poor curriculum implementation, unstable system implementation, and lack of administrator support. The results of this study provide feedback to the Division of Vocational-Technical Education and Training (BPLTV), Vocational College administrators, and teachers on issues and challenges in applying OBE in Vocational Colleges. These challenges need to be addressed to ensure improvements, including knowledge, monitoring, and practices being imparted in Vocational Colleges teaching and learning ecosystem.