THE DESIGN OF EFFECTIVE SCHOOL ENTERPRISE PROGRAMME FOR VOCATIONAL COLLEGES IN MALAYSIA: AN APPLICATION OF FUZZY DELPHI METHOD

Abstract

The aim of Malaysia Vocational Education Transformation Plan 2012 was to produce self-esteem human capitals, accredited skill workers, lifelong learner and competitive entrepreneurs who can contribute to the country's high-income generation. In the context of Malaysian education, all the Technical and Vocational Colleges’ graduates must be equipped with the necessary skills to face their future. Therefore, this study was carried out to design the effective School Enterprise (SE) programme for Vocational Colleges in Malaysia. Specifically, the objectives were to find the elements in the programme and to rank them based on the experts’ opinion. The research applied the Fuzzy Delphi method with the sample of experts who consisted of teachers, lecturers, entrepreneurs and officers from the Ministry of Education and government agencies. The first round involved interview sessions with five experts to design the questionnaire for the Fuzzy Delphi. The questionnaires were then distributed to fifteen more experts to gain their opinion on the effective School Enterprise programme's elements. The findings show four main themes/dimensions in this study: (1) programme preparation, (2) programme modules delivery, (3) programme training, and (4) programme implementation. Programme preparation includes understanding the programme, students' readiness, teachers' readiness, school organisations' readiness and module preparation. The dimension of module delivery is divided into two elements that are knowledge and skills. For the dimension of programme training, the two elements found are the programme practical training and reflection. The final dimension of programme implementation includes applying knowledge and skills, achievement assessment and rewards. It is expected that these findings could give guidance to schools, particularly Vocational colleges and the higher authorities on the content of the School Enterprise programme that they should implement to be effective and impactful.