EXERCISE QUESTIONS: Read the PROBLEM STATEMENT BELOW:

Evaluate the Problem statement WRITTEN by our UNITAR Student who had just completed (May
2021) his Project Paper in Educational Leadership and Management (ELM). Use Marilyn Simon
CHECK LIST to evaluate the PROBLEM STATEMENT. Find out what is the
total SCORE? Full mark is 50 marks for 10 criteria.

Title of the study “A STUDY OF STRESS AMONG TEACHERS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SARAWAK”

1.2 Problem Statement

Recently, amid the pandemic era, teachers need to face new challenges of Teaching and Learning at
Home (PdPR) following the re-implementation of the movement control order (MCO). The
government of Malaysia has declared a Movement Control Order (MCO) on 16 March 2020. Next,
the MCO period has been extended to several phases, including the Conditional Movement Control
Order (CMCO), which started on 4 May 2020. During this period, the government has fixed that all
educational institutions are closed. In connection with that, the Ministry of Education (MoE) has
issued a Release Letter of the Ministry of Education Malaysia Number 3 for the Year of 2020:
Implementation of Guidelines Teaching and Learning at home (PdPR) during the implementation of
CMCO due to infectious Covid – 19 dated 27 March 2020 to ensure student learning is not affected.
During the first MCO, no teacher could have expected to work from home for weeks to months. The
advent of the Malaysia wide pandemic of Covid – 19 caused thousands of schools to close
indefinitely. The very sudden change to online learning has put an unparalleled type of stress on
teachers to rapidly adapt their teaching and learning process to an online format that is open to all
students. Using these new technology tools to model a typical school day presents several problems,
some out of teachers reach. There is a wide range of online teaching resources from Google meet
and Zoom, Google Classroom, to Microsoft Teams. However, most teachers do not use these
methods before and do not know which ones are most successful and suitable for their teaching
style, class material, and student skills. It is a relatively steep learning process than most other
parents, students, and teachers know where this will add more burden and stress to the teacher,
which adds more to the existing one.

Other than that, we know that teachers are essential for the future of Malaysia's education system
and economy, and therefore their emotional and physical health should be monitored and managed.
This research can help school management teams identify organisational factors that causes stress,
how teachers are affected by the problem, and whether school management teams can positively
affect these causes of teachers' stress levels in this area. The purpose of this analysis is to assess
whether there was a meaningful relationship between the predictor variables (factors causing stress)
and the independent variables (biographic and demographic variables such as school management
teams). McCarthy (2019) have revealed that stress is part of teachers' day-to-day working
environment and triggered by workload, lack of parents’ participation, negative attitudes towards
teachers, negative attitudes and poor discipline among students, and the fulfilment of many
challenging duties, including extra-administrative tasks. School management teams always struggle
constantly with teachers on stress coping strategies or stress coping strategies towards individual
teachers. To help teachers manage stress, school management teams should identify teachers'
reasonable and straightforward expectations, provide social support, interact well, and demonstrate
gratitude to educators.

There has been very little study on teachers’ stress in Sarawak to date. Abang Mat Ali (1998)
discovered that 49.0 % of respondents from secondary schools in Zone A of Kuching /Samarahan
Division were under mild stress in their occupation in one of the earliest studies. 21.3 % of the
respondents were moderately or severely anxious. According to Abang Mat Ali's research, teachers
in Sarawak face the same stress issues as their counterparts in Peninsular Malaysia and other areas
of the world. The next research, conducted by Bilal et al., (2014) found that the majority of
respondents from MARA government staff which consist of two education centres were moderately
stressed, with a total percentage of 59.44 % and a frequency of 85 respondents. Meanwhile, the
findings reveal that 34.27 % of respondents (49 in total) were extremely stressed. With nine
respondents, all who experienced moderate stress account for the remaining 6.29 %. There were no
respondents for the other levels of stress, such as not stressful and severely stressful. Despite the
fact that the outcome for level of work stress is mild (59.44 %), it is also in a severe range, with the
second highest percentage level of job stress being extremely severe (34.27 %). Hence, it is hoped
that, a case study of teachers stress in MRSM in Sarawak, which has good academic performance,
will give further insight into the teachers stress situations. The previous studies on stress were
usually associated with negative effects or lower performances. Hence the objective of this study is
to investigate whether stress can enhance teachers performance.

These chosen secondary schools have been consistently achieving excellent results in the form three
(PT3), and form five (SPM) national exam. In the year 2019, MRSM Mukah and MRSM Betong was
the best school in respective district while MRSM Kuching is top 3 best school in Kuching district.
MRSM Kuching manage to get school grade point average of 1.833, MRSM Betong manage to get
school grade point average of 1.835 and MRSM Mukah manage to get school grade point average of
1.922. Between 2014 and 2019, these three school manage to maintain their excellent ranging from
1.4 to 1.9. Referring to 2019 PT3 result analysis prepared by MARA Secondary Education Sector, 42%
PT3 candidates of MRSM Kuching able to get 5A and above. Meanwhile, 36% of MRSM Betong PT3
candidates able to get 5A and above and finally for MRSM Mukah, 45% of the PT3 candidates able to
get 5A and above. All three school manage to score below the national average. Meanwhile for SPM
2019 results, MRSM Mukah and MRSM Betong was the best school in respective district while
MRSM Kuching is top 3 best school in Kuching district. MRSM Kuching manage to get school grade
point average of 3.308, MRSM Betong manage to get school grade point average of 3.586 and
MRSM Mukah manage to get school grade point average of 3.847. Between 2014 and 2019, these
three school manage to maintain their excellent ranging from 2.0 to 3.8. Referring to 2019 SPM
result analysis prepared by MARA Secondary Education Sector, 66.17% SPM candidates of MRSM
Kuching able to get 5A and above. Meanwhile, 50% of MRSM Betong SPM candidates able to get 5A
and above and finally for MRSM Mukah, 56.92% of the SPM candidates able to get 5A and above. All
three school manage to score below the national average. All the school manage to get 100%
passing rate for all subject offered in SPM.

Prior to the research, the teachers in these schools expressed stress in informal conversations and
impressions with the researcher. They also revealed symptoms of stress. There were some issues
about their work and students. A few of the teachers expressed stress as a result of their workload.
They complained of having to work extra hours after school to go over the students' work and plan
for the school lessons. Other teachers expressed concern that students were getting on their nerves,
especially during the online distance learning that was introduced during the pandemic. Some
students are daring to skip the online class in order to play games and update their social media
 accounts. A number of teachers address school expectations, and the community sometimes puts
the pressure on teachers. According to stress research, stress reduces efficiency and efficacy.
However, despite the fact that the teachers were often stressed, these three chosen schools were
the excellent schools in Sarawak, producing strong academic results. As a result, it would be
beneficial to learn more about the types of pressures that the teachers at these three schools are
experiencing.

EXERCISE QUESTION

EXERCISE QUESTIONS: Read the PROBLEM STATEMENT above

Evaluate the above Problem statement by our UNITAR Student who had just completed (May 2021) his Project Paper in Education

Use Marilyn Simon CHECK LIST to evaluate the PROBLEM STATEMENT. Find out what is the total SCORE?
Full mark is 50 marks for 10 criteria.

Marilyn Simon Checklist on Research Problem Statement

5 4. 3. 2. 1
CHARACTERISTICS V. Goo Averag Poo V.
1 3 Goo d e r Poo
PROBLEM STATEMENT Average of - page 180-250 words d r
2 4
1 General Problem/Observation identifying the need for study, with sufficient current /
evidence to support the extent of the problem. This can be current literature or current
statistics.
2 Specific “Problem” proposed for research. Evidence is provided that this a current /
problem. However, the words current or today should not be in the problem statement. A
time reference included.
3 Introductory words describing the paradigm (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed), the /
method, and research design are given and are appropriate to the “problem”.
4 General population group affected by the problem is identified. /
5 The geographic area where the problem exists is identified, if appropriate. /
6 The gap in the literature is explained. The gap in the literature is not sufficient reason to /
conduct a doctoral study and is not, in itself, a problem, but it explains where your study
will fit in with other scholarly research.

7 The problem statement is written in a scholarly voice with APA formatting and no /
grammatical errors. There are no, or a minimum number of, quotations in the problem
statement.
8 Sufficient evidence is provided to convince the reader that the problem is real and /
solvable.
9 The problem statement is clear, concise, and in accord with the purpose statement. The /
possible resolution is in accord with the chosen methodology.
1 There are no unnecessary words. The problems statement does not exceed 250 words. /
0
Find out what is the total SCORE? Full mark is 50 marks for 10 criteria. 37