The Level of Teacher’s Preparedness for Teaching and Assessing Children at a Hospital-Based School in Peninsular Malaysia

Abstract

The establishment of hospital-based school (HBS) in Malaysia is an excellent step forward in helping patients, who are unable to attend school, continue receiving their education. The Education Ministry of Malaysia, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, initiated the idea of (HBS) in response to concerns over the fate of hospitalized children who were missing out on school. However, the effectiveness of the program depends largely on the willingness of teachers to go beyond the school infrastructure and facilities. This study was conducted to identify the level of self-sufficiency of HBS teachers when implementing teaching and learning (PdP) in various aspects such as controlling the concept of entertainment in PdP, motivation and positive attitude of teachers, as well as the state of their emotional and physical health. The study adopted a quantitative method using questionnaires as the key research instrument. Respondents of this study consisted of 95 HBS teachers in Peninsular Malaysia using sampling techniques. The findings of the study showed that the ability and creativity of a teacher to manage various aspects including entertaining, portraying motivational and positive attitude, and maintaining emotional as well as physical health affects the level of preparedness of teachers during PdP in HBS.