ISLAMIC EDUCATION TEACHERS ’ PERCEPTION ON THEIR READINESS IN TEACHING ELEMENTS OF SEXUALITY EDUCATION

The purpose of this study is to examine the perception of Islamic Education teachers’ about their readiness for teaching elements of sexuality education in Islamic Education. The study demonstrated that Islamic Education teachers were highly ready to teach elements of sexuality education and the data showed level of readiness was intermediate (mean=4.70; sd=0.74). The inference analysis utilized the t-test and the One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The finding of the study identified some factors that hinder their readiness which are knowledge, personality and attitudes. Keyword: Teachers’ Perception, Teachers’ Readiness, Elements of


INTRODUCTION
Muslim life is based on what is in the Qur'an and the Sunnah.All halal and haram aspects have been explained by Allah Subhanahuwataala in Quran as a guidance of human life and in what have been left by Prophet Muhammad Sallahualaihiwassalam In the Qur'an, there are many verses that clearly explain about sex education such as the creation of humanbeings, the relationship between male and female, lowering the gaze and protecting self-dignity.Many hadiths narrated by the companions described the explanations from the Messenger of Allah Subhanahuwataala related to sex education such as how to take obligatory bath, how to treat a wife, menstruation and so on.Scholars have analysed a number of Quranic verses and hadiths which clearly show that Muslims are encouraged to study knowledge related to sexual and reproductive health.Islamic scholars have discussed matters related to sex education.Sex education should be taught to children as it fulfills the demands of human life based on Islamic law (Abdullah Nasih Ulwan, 2009;Malik Badri 2000;Sarwar 1996;Shaikh Abdul Mabud 1998;Syed Ali Ashraf 1998;al-Tawil 1992;al-Afendi 1980).The basic education of a child begins at home because the child is like a white cloth shaping by his family especially his parents.Islam regards parents as the first person responsible for introducing and teaching sex education to their children from childhood.Sex education should be understood by its purpose, scopes and purposes to avoid misunderstanding and conflict.
There are some definitions of sex education given by Muslim scholars based on their understanding.Abdullah Nasih Ulwan (1989) stated that sex education should be taught to children clearly and comprehensively when children have sense.He defined sex education as: teaches, explains and warns teenagers about the issues related to sex, instinct, lust and their relationship in marriage ... until they grow up with an understanding of the meaning of life.Teenagers know what is justified and what is prohibited and they practise Islamic ethics and behaviour in their life.
Sex education can be defined as the process of teaching, explaining and reminding students (teenagers) about things related to sex, instinct, lust and relationship in marriage.This process occurs until they become mature and understand the meaning of life (Abdullah Nasih Ulwan, 1989).According to Abdullah Nasih Ulwan, a student should be able to differentiate between the things that can be done and the things that need to be avoided and practise Islamic ethics and behaviour in their life.Therefore, sex education should be taught to children clearly and comprehensively when the children have sense (Abdullah Nasih Ulwan, 1989).
Sex education has become a big issue in Malaysia over the time since the country has the increasing numbers of sexually active teenagers, spreading of sexually transmitted diseases, problems of premarital pregnancy, increasing desire among teenagers to have partners at young age, rising number of illegitimate children and the cases of abortion (Zulkifli et al. 2000;Low 2006;Wong et al. 2008;Su Xu Xien et al. 2014;Azri et a.l 2015).To overcome the problems, the Ministry of education has developed a sex education module known as the "Family Health Education" in conjunction with the government's effort to overcome the social problems among teenagers all over the country.Various topics related to sex education have also be in subjects such as Islamic Education, Physical and Health Education, Morale Education, Science, Additional Science and Biology.There is no special subject entitled sex education in school but the sex education elements are available in the contents of the subjects such as physical health, sexuality, reproduction and moral aspects of human relationship.However, the implementation of sex education is still in the process of evaluation (Puteh Rahimah 2009).
Numerous studies have shown that adolescents are involved in romantic relationship outside marriage and engage in unsafe sexual intercourse in Malaysia (Wong et al. 2008).The most recent research in Malaysia shows that the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection rate and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) cases are increasing rapidly among young people (MACRC 2015).Up to June 2014, a total 105189 HIV infections and 21384 AIDS cases were reported among Malaysian below the age of 30 years.In addition, the number of adolescents involved in sexual intercourse increases from time to time (Zulkifli et al. 2000;Low 2006;Wong et al. 2008;Su Xu Xien et al. 2014;Azri et a.l 2015).
The distribution of teaching among subjects related to the topic of sex education elements causes student not to view the sex-related matters comprehensively.According to Bennet (2007), the absence of comprehensive sex education for youth pose the dangers that they will have unsafe sex premarital sex without being informed on the consequences sufficiently.Research shows that the existing sex education elements in school is no longer sufficient and could not prevent teenagers from involving in illegal sexual activities (Muhamad Zahiri 2006;Wong et al. 2008;Johari et al 2012).Teachers seem unwilling to teach sex-related topics due to being ill-prepared and untrained to explain the topics in a proper way (Azizah & Chan 2009;Puteh Rahimah et al. 2009;Johari et al. 2012;Mazlin et al. 2013;Zahra 2014).
Study shows that teachers refused to teach sex education elements because they were ill-prepared and untrained to explain the topics in a proper way (Amir Hasan 2009;Johari et al. 2012).The implementation of sex education must be comprehensive and need understanding from teachers' view.The respondents' readiness in this study is measured in terms of the personality, knowledge, skills and attitudes.The findings of this study are very important as they could contribute to a more comprehensive sex education understanding in Malaysia education system.

METHODOLOGY
This study employed a quatitative approach to identify teachers' perception about their readiness for teaching elements of sexuality education in Islamic Education.The sample consist of secondary school Islamic Education teachers.A total of 600 respondents participated in this study.The research instrument is divided into four sections which specific into four domains mainly the knowledge, personality, attitudes and skill.

Respondent Demographic Background
The demographic background of the respondents is indicated in Table 1.Based on the table, 42% of them were male teachers and the other 58% were female.There were 48% teachers from rural school and 52% from urban school.The majority of the teachers were degree holder (82%), with 36% of them holding Diploma, 8% with Master degree and 4% with the SPM level.With regard to their teaching experience, 10% of them had been teaching for less than 5 years, approximately 24% were between 6-10 years, 36% between 11-15 years, and about 32% between 16-20 years 8% in 20 years teaching profession.

The Perception Islamic Education Teachers in Teaching Elements of Sexuality Education
The present study examined the readiness of Islamic education teachers in teaching sex education elements in secondary school based on four aspects which are personality, knowledge, skills and attitudes.The study indicated that the respondents possessed a high knowledge on sex education elements with a mean score 4.99 followed by personality (min=3.80);skills (min=3.61)and the lowest mean score on attitudes (min=3.36)(Table 2).A descriptive analysis was used to describe the level of personality among the respondents using 24 questions which were divided into two categories sahsiah (12 question) and guidance (12 question).The result showed that the level of readiness among the respondents in term of personality was high and the personality category scored the highest mean in personality.Table 3 depicts the mean and standard deviations for personality.The readiness of Islamic education teachers' in term of knowledge was divided into four categories which are "dignity" (9), "marriage concept" (15), "halal haram (6) and "precaution" ( 16); all item 46.As shown in Table 4, the highest score mean is halal and haram issues category (Mean=5.00,S.D. =0.00).In term of skills, there were three types of skills were assessed which consist of 25 questions: "computer skill" (3); "communication skill" (7) and "psychology skill" (15).The respondents' skills were at high level.Among the three skills, it was found that respondents possesed the highest skills in computer (Mean=4.06,SD=0.48) followed by communication skills (Mean=3.66,SD=0.64).They had the lowest skills in psychology (Mean=3.50,SD=0.69) (Table 5).The first objective of this study was to examine the Islamic education teachers; readiness in term of personality, knowledge, skills and attitudes.The study indicated that the respondents possesed a high knowledge about sex education elements with a mean score 4.99 followed by personality (min=3.80);skills (min=3.61)and the lowest mean score on attitudes (min=3.36).It shows that respondents' were ready to teach sex education elements in school.Previous studies have stated the importance of knowledge as an essential factor to teach sex education elements from Islamic perspectives (Shulman 1987;al-Syaibani 1979;Kamarul Azmi 2010;Ahmad Yunus Kassim & Ab. Halim Tamuri 2010;Ab. Halim Tamuri et al. 2010a& 2010b).They reported that the teachers should continue to improve and gain additional knowledge to integrate the critical issues in social problem with Islamic education.
With regard to the level of personality among the respondents, this study found that they had high level of personality in teaching sex education elements.Previous studies have noted that teachers' personality did affect the readiness of teachers (Ab. Halim Tamuri & Khadijah 2003;al-Ghazali 2004;Ab. Halim Tamuri et al. 2006;Ibnu Khaldun 2009;Ab. Halim Tamuri et al. 2010a& 2010b).Other studies also found that sex education seem not to be effective because of teachers' personality (Sarwar 1996;D'Oyen 1996;Low 2009;Puteh Rahimah et al. 2009;Bilinga & Mabula 2014;Mahnaz & Sharifah 2016).
The study also found that the level of skill among Islamic education teachers were high.The importance of skill in teaching was approved by previous studies especially in computer skill (Hasbullah & Yusni 2003;Rosmaria 2003;Ab. Halim Tamuri et al. 2004;Md. Yusoff et al. 2006;Ibnu Khaldun 2009;Kamarul Azmi 2010).
In term of attitudes, the result indicated that Islamic education teachers' had positive attitude toward sex education elements.These results are similar with previous studies that emphasized the importance of positive attitudes among teachers in teaching and learning process (Ajzen 1991;Mathur et al. 2004;Puteh Rahimah et al. 2009;Ab. Halim Tamuri et al. 2010a& 2010b;Shariza 2014).
The second objective of this study was to determine whether there were significant mean differences in Islamic education teachers' readiness due to demographic factors which are gender, schools' location, academic qualification and teaching experience.In general, the findings indicated that there were significant demographic factors effects on Islamic education teachers' readiness.However, there were no significant gender effect on Islamic education teachers on skill and no significant schools' location effect on personality.

CONCLUSION
This study examined the readiness Islamic education teachers teaching sex education elements in terms of personality, knowledge, skills and attitudes as well as demographic factors based on gender, schools location, academic qualification and teaching experience.Islamic education teachers; were found to have a moderate level of personality.In terms of Islamic education teachers' knowledge, the finding shows that a vast of majority involved in this study possess a moderate level of knowledge in sex education elements.While in terms of attitudes toward sex education elements, the findings of the study indicated they have positive attitudes in teaching.
The study also determines demographic factors have significant and non significant effect on Islamic education teachers' readiness.In term of gender, schools' location, academic qualification and teaching experience, the study found that there were significant demographic effects on overall Islamic education teachers' readiness.However, there were no significant gender effect on teachers' skill and no significant schools' location effect on teachers' personality.
This study indicated that Islamic Education teachers are highly ready to teach sex education elements in Islamic Education.Based on the finding, the study suggests to the Ministry of Education to give professional development training to enhance the teachers' readiness to teach sex education elements.Islamic Education teachers' need intensive and on-going in service training to help teachers gain confidence in their abilities to teach sex education elements.

Table 3
Mean and standard deviations for Personality (N=600)

Table 5
Mean and standard deviations for Skills (N=600) Table6, the attitude toward sex education elements was assessed in terms of three categories which are interest, responsibility and views.The result indicated that the Islamic education teachers attitudes were found to be positive in teaching sex education elements (Mean=3.86,S.D.=0.35).