EDUCATION AND PANDEMIC: SPACE FOR STRENGTHENING FAMILY WELL-BEING

Abstract

Through times of the COVID-19 pandemic, humans all over the world have been affected differently. It has left a huge impact towards human well-being spiritually, physically, emotionally and also in terms of family relationships. To date, thousands of crises have happened to people, leaving them feeling burnt out with the pandemic which has been affecting the economy as well as national development since the beginning. It is undeniable that people will get first moral support from their family. Thus, it is essential to identify practices that contribute to human well-being especially in the aspect of family education during a pandemic. This study analyses how a pandemic affects family education among Muslim Malaysians. The current study has been conducted in order to measure the level of family education before and during the pandemic. It was conducted in March 2020 and the respondents consisted of Muslim Malaysians who live in several states such as Selangor, Kelantan, Sabah and also other areas. It used the purposive sampling technique where the selected respondents are married from both male and female categories. This study was analysed using SPSS version 23 to perform paired t-test analysis. Family education was measured through the component of religious practice, social relationship and individual value. The findings showed that the practices for each component significantly increased among family members during the pandemic [6.19±0.97], [6.08±1.00], [6.30±0.92] respectively. The study also revealed that most Muslim Malaysians emphasise on family education during a pandemic and it is understood that a pandemic moves a Muslim's heart to become a more responsible parent in instilling religious practices in their children, as the precious future generation that they will become