Headmasters' understanding and readiness in implementing Zero Reject Policy at primary schools in Selangor, Malaysia
Malaysia has a long history of providing education for children with special needs. Special education in the country is governed by the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013- 2025, which aims to improve access and inclusiveness among all schools in the country. This study aimed to study headmasters&#...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2023
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/113961/1/113961.pdf |
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| Summary: | Malaysia has a long history of providing education for children with special needs.
Special education in the country is governed by the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-
2025, which aims to improve access and inclusiveness among all schools in the country.
This study aimed to study headmasters' understanding and readiness in implementing a
newly rebranded policy introduced by the Ministry of Education Malaysia. The study
adapted a phenomenology design that involved six headmasters of primary schools in
Selangor who were chosen from purposive sampling based on inclusion and exclusion
criteria sets. The study was guided by two research questions: (1) To what extent do the
headmasters of primary schools in Selangor understand the implementation of the Zero
Reject Policy (ZRP)? and (2) How ready were the headmasters of primary schools in
Selangor to implement the ZRP? Three qualitative data collection methods were used
which include semi-structured interviews, document analysis, and observation. Data
collected was analysed by using ATLAS.ti (Version 9) software and five themes
emerged from the analysis. The study found that most headmasters understand the
objectives of the ZRP in providing access to education. However, issues such as poor
infrastructure have presented a big challenge for headmasters to properly implement the
policy. The data revealed that the headmasters demanded more knowledge on special
education during their leadership preparation program. The impact of the policy showed
that the headmasters gained knowledge on special education however, schools became
more crowded with special educational needs students. The study concludes that the
implementation of ZRP has challenged headmasters in three different perspectives,
which are awareness, leadership skills, and access to education. The ZRP requires
parents and teachers to have a good relationship to promote the right to education for all
special education needs children, regardless of their background, location, and socioeconomics. |
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