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Saturday, 2 January 2016
Class of Part 1 Sept - Dec 2015, Master of Education
Sunday, 20 December 2015
Monday, 2 November 2015
Sunday, 1 November 2015
Relationship Between Quality Dimension and Parents’ Satisfaction In Choosing Private Preschool Centre
1.1
Background
Malaysia is
currently transforming its education system to achieve world class status.
Early childhood development is critical for children’s cognitive and emotional
development, and readiness for school and life. The Government of Malaysia has
paid attention and taken specific steps to ensure that more children benefit
from existing early childhood development forms. Kindergarten gross enrolment
increased by six percentage points within a five year period and reached 73.0
per cent in 2010. Sixty per cent of kindergartens are public; the student per
teacher ratio there is higher (22 students per teacher) than in private
kindergartens (14 students per teacher) (UNICEF, & EPU 2013).
Parents are vital stakeholders in preschool education, and
the choices they make about preschool education have important corollaries for
their children, their families and the early childhood education system.
Quality of early care and education is of concern not only to parents, but also
to policy makers, practitioners, and researchers. Yet we know little about how
parents’ perceptions of quality compare to those of other stakeholders
(Ceglowski & Bacigalupa, 2002).
As overall, this
study is an endeavor to improve
preschool quality in giving excellent education service to early childhood in a
prospect of importance for parents to achieve level of satisfaction.
1.2
Problems Statement
The growth of the knowledge-based economy,
competition among preschool providers becomes more intense. With the population
of children in Malaysia has increased, it indicates that too many substitute
preschool grew up in a competitive education industry. Therefore, parents have
to be more concern in deciding the high quality preschool for their children.
The introduction
of the preschool education has much to do with the competitive nature of
accommodated to the preschool demand. Issues of quality also arise out of this
miscellany. Morrison (2000) found that 75% of parents changed their children
kindergarten because of their dissatisfaction towards the kindergarten. The bad
reputation of preschool Centre might be spread by the word of mouth from the
parents to the community.
In Malaysia, research on early childhood literature is still in its exploratory stage and less research on children’s literature materials has been carried out, including the development on early children literature (Chew and Ishak, 2010). It was emphasized that British and American children books are dominating the world of children’s literature (Hamdan and Ishak, 2004). Malaysia is beginning to evolve to be one of the most influencing countries in terms of education. Attention towards providing more quality preschool classes and initiatives are in the rise where governance in Malaysia is very centralized (Boon, 2010) in providing whatis best for the future generations.
Besides
that, parents generally are worried about their children’s’ readiness to enter
Standard 1. The parents’ trends are to ensure the private preschool may fulfill
their expectation regarding their children performance in academic and
discipline. They want their children to be drilled with the reading, writing
and mathematical skills and they want to see the outcome in the form of test
marks.
1.3
Research Objectives
a)
To study the criteria parents choose private preschool as their
children’s education;
b)
To investigate on quality offered in private preschool influence the
parents’ satisfaction; and
c)
To examine whether perceived Islamic private
preschool characteristics influence the parents’ satisfaction.
1.4
Research Questions
a) What
are the reasons parents choose private preschool as their children’s education?
b) Does
the five (5) quality dimension in terms of tangibility, reliability,
responsiveness, assurance and empathy can influence parents’ satisfaction in
private preschool?
c) How
can perceived Islamic preschool characteristics influence parents’ satisfaction?
d) What
is the relationship between quality and customer satisfaction in preschool Centre?
e)
How does satisfaction and quality
affect loyalty towards a private preschool centre?
1.5
Significance of the Study
The significance of the study to investigate into what and how parents satisfaction and loyalty based on the services of quality provided by the preschool.
1.6
Operational Definitions
Preschool
education – much of the literature varies in the terminology used to describe
the level of education about which the parents’ perceptions are sought. Terms
include preschool education, kindergarten and early childhood education.
Preschool
is an early childhood program in which children combine learning with play in a program run by professionally trained adults.
Children are most commonly enrolled in preschool between the ages of three and
five, though those as young as two can attend some schools. Preschools are
different from traditional day care in that their emphasis is learning and development rather than enabling parents
to work or pursue other activities.
Washington State Legislature (WAC
392-164-165)
As used
in this chapter, "preschool children" means children who are:
(1) Below the
age and grade level at which the state provides free public education; and
(2) Of the age or grade level
at which they can benefit from an organized educational program provided in a
school or instructional setting: Provided, that such children shall not be
younger than three years of age.
Customer
satisfaction is a highly personal assessment that is greatly influenced
by individual expectations. Some definitions are based on the observation that
customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction results from either the confirmation
or disconfirmation of individual expectations regarding a service or product.
To avoid difficulties stemming from the kaleidoscope of customer expectations
and differences, some experts urge companies to “concentrate on a goal that’s
more closely linked to customer equity.” Instead of asking whether customers are
satisfied, they encourage companies to determine how customers hold them
accountable. (Nick Wreden, 2004)
Customer
satisfaction is the degree to which a customer perceives that an individual,
firm or organization has effectively provided a product or service that meets
the customer’s needs in the context in which the customer is aware of and / or
using the product or service. Satisfaction is not inherent in the individual or
the product but is a socially constructed response to the relationship between a
customer, the product and the product provider /maker. To the extent that a
provider / maker can influence the various dimensions of the relationship, the
provider can influence customer satisfaction. (Reed, John H., Hall, Nicholas
P., 1997)
1.7
Variables
To achieve long
term success in the market, preschool centre should monitor the customer
satisfaction signals regarding relationship of quality and customer
satisfactions. Measuring customer satisfactions provide a comprehensive insight
to the customer pre and post securing behavior. Without this approach
understanding, improving and developing better customer services could not be
possible.
Quantitative
approach is used in this study. The profiles of the respondents include
parents’ age, parents’ education level, family monthly income and distance from
preschool (100 sets of structured questionnaires).
IV Quality Dimension DV
Parents’ satisfactions
Customers’ expectations and perceptions are measured across
these five dimensions using questionnaires.
a) Tangibles: Appearance of physical facilities, equipment,
personnel, and communication materials.
b)
Reliability: Ability to perform the promised service dependably
and accurately.
c)
Responsiveness: Willingness to help customers and provide prompt
service.
d)
Assurance: Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability
to convey trust and confidence.
e)
Empathy: Caring, individualized attention the firm provides
its customers.
1.8
Scope and Limitations
The population
for the study consisted of parents who send their children to the private
preschool Centre in Sha Alam, Selangor.
1.9
Summary
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