Implementation of Integrated Islamic Primary School ( SRAI ) from Administrators ’ , Teachers ’ , and Pupils ’ Perspectives

Integrated Islamic Primary School or in Malaysian Language called Sekolah Rendah Agama Integrasi (SRAI), it a type of primary school in Malaysia which is under the administration of Selangor Islamic Department. SRAI integrates curriculum implemented in Malaysia National Primary School and curriculum implemented in Selangor Islamic Primary School. The two different curriculums are normally implemented in two different sessions and in the two types of the mentioned schools. Upon the operation of SRAI, there are strenghts and weakenesses that can be identified and positively discussed for further enhancement of the schools as this type of schools might someday be proposed or looked as a model school. This paper is based on a study done on the schools. The study focusies on administrators, teachers, and pupils perspectives on the selected issues regarding SRAI. Questionnaires were given to the respondents to seek their perceptions on SRAI. Generally, the findings of the study showed that most aspects in the implementation of SRAI are recieved positively while there are others which need enhancements. Periodic review should be done to monitor the development and situation of the schools from time to time.


Introduction
At national level, common primary schools in Malaysia are of three types namely National Primary School or in Malaysian Language called Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK); National Type Chinese Primary School or in Malaysian Language called Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC) and National Type Tamil School or in Malaysian Language called Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil (SJKT) beside others such as Islamic religious schools which are under the governant of State Islamic Department (Ikhsan Othman & Norila Md Salleh, 2014).In state of Selangor for example, Selangor State Islamic Department under Bahagian 10 Seksyen 120 Enakmen Pentadbiran Agama Islam (Negeri Selangor) 2003 serta Enakmen Pengawalan Sekolah-sekolah Islam 1988(Enakmen No. 2/1988) is conducting Islamic religous primary schools called Religous Primary School or in Malaysian Language called Sekolah Rendah Agama (SRA) where by the curriculum is more towards Islamic education.
In Malaysia, especially in the state of Selangor, parents usually send their children to two different schools; SK in the morning where the children learn academic subjects and to SRA in the afternoon where the children learn Islamic subjects.Unlike in the concept of SRAI, where parents need to send their children only to a single school under single roof and single administration with academic subjects and Islamic subjects integrated together.SRAI simultaneously implements national curriculum similar to those implemented in SK; and state Islamic curriculum as currently implemented in SRA.The combination of the two types of the curriculums require SRAI to begin the school session from morning to late afternoon.Table 1 shows the basic subjects taught in SK, SRA and SRAI.Based on the general overview, it shows that schools which employ the concept of SRAI are preferable by parents compared to SK and SRA especially among parents living in town areas.Parents in town asusual go out to work in the morning and return in the late afternoon.Therefore by sending their children to SRAI, it helps their daily routine better.In SRAI, lunch for the children is provided by the school with a little fund paid by parents.The children are also led to perform sholat Zohor and sholat Asar together (jamaah) beside other Islamic, academic and cocuricular activities.Pupils from SRAI seems to perform better than those who are from SK or SRA.For example, there is a case where ex-pupils from SRAI Sungai Chinchin, Selangor who are capable to perform debate in both English language as well as Arabic language where pupils from SK and SRA could not do so (Buletin SRAI Selangor, 2015).In addition to outstanding performance, such achievement is among others which can attract parents to send their children to SRAI.
The implementation of SRAI is essentially parallel with Malaysia National Education Philosophy which states "Education in Malaysia is an on-going effort towards further developing the potential of individuals in a holistic and integrated manner, so as to produce individuals who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically balanced and harmonious, based on a firm belief in and devotion to God.Such an effort is designed to produce Malaysian citizens who are knowledgeable and competent, who possess high moral standards, and who are responsible and capable of achieving high level of personal well-being as well as being able to contribute to the harmony and betterment of the family, the society and the nation at large" (Malaysia Ministry of Education, 2001).SRAI apparently integrates academic as well as religious values in the curriculum.Therefore, it cannot be denied that the development of pupil's intrinsic domain as well as instrumental domain can be integrated in SRAI.
One of the roles of education system in Malaysia is to equip young generation holistically for their success in the era of globalization with the latest global challenges and competitions.The integration of national curriculum as in SK and the state Islamic curriculum as in SRA in schools with the concept of SRAI, is of high expectation to produce citizens who are knowledgeable and with higher competency; and who possess higher Islamic values so that they play a more effective role in the present and peaceful in the here after as in al-Quran (2: 201): The meaning: Our Lord! Give unto us in the world that which is good and in the hereafter that which is good, and guard us from the doom of fire.
However, upon the operation of SRAI there are strenghts and weakenesses which may be indentified and viewed from different perspectives.Studies should be carried out to view and monitor the condition of SRAI from time to time.Thus, this study was carried out in the hope that the findings can be used as a basis for further enhancement of SRAI.

Research Methodology
This study employ a survey research design which involved all schools with the concept of SRAI except SRAI Dato' Mufti Yusoff Sahabuddin Syeksen 7 Shah Alam.All administrators and teachers from ten SRAI in state of Selangor were involved in this study as respondents.Administrators in this study include Headmasters, and all Senior Assisstant Teachers.A total of 41 administrators which comprises of 14 males (34.1%) and 27 females (65.9%) were selected as respondents.Among teachers, 207 were involved as respondents of this study which comprises of 40 males (19.7%) and 167 females (80.7%).Among pupils who study in SRAI, a total of 498 Year 5 pupils were selected as respondents which consists of 237 males (47.6%) and 261 females (52.4%).
Two types of questionnaires were developed for the pupose of this study.The first questionnaire is used to gather information from the administrators and teachers (Questionnaire -A) whereas the second questionnaires is used to gather information from the students (Questionnaire -B).Based on the pilot study, the analysis found that the reliability coefficients of Questionnaire -A and Questionnaire -B are  = .82and  = .54respectively.
There are 32 items in Questionnaire -A and it uses 5-point Likert scale i.e. strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), neutral (3), agree (4), and strongly agree (5).Based on the data gathered in this study, mean score and standard deviation are calculated for each item.Questionnaire -B consists of 30 items and students are required to respond to each item based on only two options namely agree and disagree.Based on the data collected, the percentage of agreement of each item are calculated.

Research Findings and Discussion
The research findings are peresented based on the stipulated research questions as metioned above.The concept of SRAI in this study operationally includes the basic philosophy of education, rationale, and aim.It involves Item 1 to Item 5. Table 2 shows the findings of the five items.From Table 2, it can be concluded that the administratos and teachers do understand the concept of SRAI and they perceive positively on the concept.Respondents also agree that the existence of schools similar to SRAI should be increased in number.
b. What are administrators' and teachers' perception on the administration of SRAI?
Administration of SRAI in this study includes the aspects of budget, manpower, cooperation, equipments and also skills needed for the operation of SRAI.Table 3 shows the administrators' and teachers' perceptions on the admistration of SRAI based on Item 6 to Item 12.Both parties, administrators and teachers agreed with items 6, 10 and 12. Thus, administrator' and teachers' believe that more budget is needed to manage SRAI.In carrying out their duties, cooperation from school staffs is not a problem among administrators' and teachers'.Based on items 7, 8 and 11, administrators' and teachers' do not agree that the budget for SRAI is adequate.Thus, they also do not agree that SRAI has adequate facilities.Acquiring qualified teachers is likely an issue for SRAI.Generally, that administration of SRAI need to be reviewed for further enhancement especially regarding budget, teachers qualification and facilities.c.What are administrators' and teachers' perception on teaching and learning process in SRAI?
Administrators and teachers responses on the process of teaching and learning in SRAI is summarized in Table 4.  Based on Table 5, the administrators and teachers agree that cocurriculum management in SRAI runs smoothly except on the aspects of facilities and finance.Both parties do not agree that there are varieties of facilities in their school that can be utilized for the purpose ofcocurriculum activities.Administrators' and teachers' also do not agree that financial allocation for cocurriculum programmes is sufficient.Therefore, it is proposed that the facilities and financial allocation for cocurriculum in SRAI need to be reviewed for the betterment of pupils' cocurriculum activities.
e. What are administrators' and teachers' perceptions on local communities response on SRAI?Item 25 to item 31 in the questionaire are related to local communities' response on SRAI as percieved by administrators and teachers.Local communities in this study operationally mean the societies who live neighbourhood to the schools.This includes parents who send their children to the schools.The findings is summarized in Table 6.From Table 6, it shows that local communities have positive perceptions toward SRAI as percieved by administrators' and teachers'.Out of eight items, Item 32 has the highest mean score; in fact in real life parent choose SRAI because it facilitates them with daily children management.
Pupils' Perception Toward SRAI a.What is pupils' perception on teaching and learning process in SRAI?
Percentage of agreement were calculated for each of ten items, and the resultsare summarized in Table 7.Based on Table 7, students feel that their study time is compact.This is due to the combination of two types of curriculum i.e.Malaysia National Primary School curriculum and Selangor State Islamic Primary School curriculum.The situation had restricted student from doing revision daily.In parallel to the administrators' and teachers' perceptions, limited facilities in SRAI might also limit teachers from using various equipment and materials during teaching and learning process.The large number of students in the classroom shows that SRAI meet the needs of parents in choosing schools for their children.However, the basic facilities in the classroom i.e. chairs and desks are sufficient.It is indeed encouraging that majority of the students admitted that their teachers in SRAI are kind.Based on Table 8, it shows that SRAI has the necessary facilities such as classroom, toilet, canteen, prayers room, transportation, playground and also communication facilities.However, some facilities e.g toilets, might need better maintainence.c.What is pupils' overall perception on SRAI?Data analysis on pupils' overall perception on SRAI is tabulated in Table 9.Overall, students showed a positive impression towards SRAI although they do not choose to attend SRAI.This includes the aspects of cocurricular, teachers, subjects taught, school hours and pupils dicipline.In fact, students do encourage their friends to attend SRAI.
SK and SRA are two different types of primary school under two different administration.However, SRAI as implemented in Selangor is a type of primary school which is in 'a single roof and single administration which combine both curriculums, national curriculum and Selangor state Islamic curriculum, as implemented in SK dan SRA respectively.
The implementation of SRAI brings benefits to parents whereby Malaysia is moving towards an institutionalized society.By sending their children to SRAI, parents can ensure that their children receive both academic education and Islamic education through integrated curriculum offered by SRAI.In addition, the integration of Malaysia National Primary School curriculum and Selangor State Islamic Primary School curriculum in SRAI is seen as a good action to produce future citizens who are not only knowledgeable and competent, but possess higher Islamic values so that they can function more effectively at present and in the future as well as for their peacefulness in the here after.
The implementation of SRAI is in parallel with Malaysia National Education Philosophy that can be executed with the concept of integrated curriculum.Therefore, the number of SRAI should be increased in order to meet the growing demand towards the school.It is proposed that the concept of SRAI to be extended to other states in Malaysia.It is hoped that school implementing the concept of SRAI will become a model school to be implemented for Muslim pupils education in the future.

Conclusion
The findings of this study showed that most aspects in the implementation of SRAI are percieved positively by administrators, teachers and pupils; while there are few aspects which need necessary improvement to make the school better.Further and frequent studies should be done in order to enhance the effectiveness of SRAI and to monitor the development of the school over time.

Table 1 :
Basic Subjects Taught in SK, SRA and SRAI Similar to those implemented in SK, at the end of Year 6, pupils in SRAI need to sit for UPSR (Malay acronym for Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah).Likewise, pupils in SRAI need to sit for PSRA (Malay acronym for Peperiksaan Sijil Rendah Agama) as pupils in SRA.

Table 2 :
Administrators' and Teachers' Perception on the Concept of SRAI

Table 4 :
Administrators' and Teachers' Perception on Teaching and Learning Process in SRAI

Table 4
presents the analysis of Item 13 to Item 18.Based on the data obtained, administrators and teachers collectively perceive positively regarding the process teaching and learning carried out in SRAI.They believe that the teaching and learning process implemented in SRAI are capable of achieving the aims of SRAI.The findings of the analysis are shown in table 5. Implementation of Integrated Islamic Primary School from Administrators', Teachers', and Pupils' Perspectives IkhsanOthman and Norila Md.Salleh Ta'dib: Journal of Islamic Education ▪ Volume 21, Number 1, June 2016 P-ISSN: 1410 -6973; E-ISSN: 2443 -2512 Available online at http://jurnal.radenfatah.ac.id/index.php/tadib

Table 5 :
Administrators' and Teachers' Perception on Cocurriculum Management in SRAI

Table 7 :
Pupils Perception on Teaching and Learning Process