A Comparative Study of Parents’ Educational Expectations in Kuala Lumpur and Sarawak primary Schools in the Era of Digital Transformation

Faculty of Education and Liberal Arts, INTI International University, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

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Abstract

The digitalisation of education in Malaysia has had an all-encompassing impact on the parents’ expectations for education. This study uses semi-structured interviews and has selected one parent from grade 1 to grade 5 of Sunway International School in Kuala Lumpur (a total of 5) and one parent from grade 1 to grade 5 of Borneo International School in East Malaysia (a total of 5) as the research subjects; around five dimensions have been interviewed in depth: digital facilities, curriculum content, teachers’ digital skills, educational equity and basic security, and parents’ digital cognition and participation. The results show that Kuala Lumpur parents generally expect schools to have advanced digital equipment and introduce programming and artificial intelligence education, while the main demands of Sarawak parents focus on basic network access and equalising teaching resources. The different structural differences in parents’ expectations at the two locations show that Malaysia’s digital education policy is not being implemented consistently across the country, and this provides important first-hand evidence for policymakers to improve the regional distribution of digital education.