Factors in Failure of Achieving LBI KPI: Teachers’ Perception

The Literacy, Numeracy and screening (LINUS LBI) 2.0, an intervention program was first implemented in 2013. It aimed to enhance the rate of English literacy among lower primary ESL learners. However, the number of non-achievers increased every year. The effectiveness of this program depends largely on the teachers, as they play a significant role in implementation. To a noteworthy extent, the teachers’ perception which covers the factors leads to the failure of this program will realize the dream of Ministry of Education. Thus, this study was embarked to investigate teacher’s perceptions on failure in achieving LBI KPI in grade B national schools in Temerloh District. A mixed method study was adopted to carry out this research with 80 teachers from 36 grade B national schools in Temerloh district. The participants were questioned on unavailability of resources, lack of training and support and other contributing factors. Questionnaire and individual interview were used to gather data. The overall findings of the study were that unavailability of resources and facilities, lack of training and support, pupils’ attendance, cooperation of stakeholders and pedagogical knowledge played a huge role in the failure in achievement of LBI KPI. The implication of the study is that Ministry needs to be made aware of these factors in order to reevaluate the program to be successfully implemented and to take into considerations of the factors for other programs implementation as well.

communicate, and learn to use printed and written materials relating to a variety of contexts (UNESCO, 2004). Basic concepts of literacy, which are to be able to communicate via text and printing, are embodied in the goals and focus of each educational system in the world. To conclude, literacy skills are integral part of any education system. Similar scenario occurs in our country too. In Malaysia, for instance, one crucial literacy skill that needs to be acquired as early as in the primary years of schooling is the English Language Literacy skills. This is because English is spoken and used as a second language (L2) in Malaysia as it is widely used (Thirusanku & Melor, 2014). This is stipulated in the Malaysian Education Policy whereby English is taught as a compulsory subject since primary one in all Malaysian public schools (Rahman, 2014).
The issue of how to improve the standard of English proficiency among young learners has been one of the most discussed issues in Malaysia. To address this problem, a Literacy Intervention Program specifically for English, (LBI) program was introduced by the Malaysian Ministry of Education, in all lower primary schools nationwide since the beginning of 2013. LINUS is the acronym which stands for LI (Literacy), NU (Numeration) and S (Screening). This literacy program is targeted at pupils who are encountering problems in 3M which are reading, writing and counting. In the year of 2013, the LINUS program was relaunched as LINUS 2.0. LINUS 2.0 involves literacy screening for English Language, as contrasting to previous screening which focused only on Malay Language and Numeracy literacy. This initiative, which is an extension of the LINUS (Literacy, Numeracy and Screening) program for the Malay language and Mathematics subjects aims at enhancing the rate of literacy in English Language among the lower primary learners. The program contains 12 constructs that all pupils must master within 3 years. They must be prime-master the whole set of constructs. The success and failure of achievement is determined by the KPI. KPI is also known as the Key Performance Indicator. These are the indicators of progress toward the intended result. KPI includes setting targets to achieve track efficiency and effectiveness of a program. In this study, KPI is defined based on the percentage of pupils acquiring all the twelve constructs mentioned above. This KPI was provided in the "Buku Pengoperasian LINUS 2.0" and in the "Panduan Pentadbiran Saringan LINUS 2.0" (KPM, 2011).
Despite the emphasis and measures taken, some children without learning disabilities were still unable to acquire the basic literacy skills of English during their lower primary school level. This affects the KPI to be achieved by the teachers. This problem is a continuing concern to teachers and policy makers alike as every Malaysian child is expected to acquire these skills after 3 years of mainstream primary education (Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia, 2015).

Literature Review
A closer look into the recent literature showed that researchers have focused on the evaluation of literacy instruction program for a variety of purposes. In light  Wong's (2014) study measured the level of LINUS program management in a Johor primary school. A questionnaire on the management of objectives, communication, supervision and evaluation, curriculum, pupils' achievement, teaching and learning was administered. The findings of the study revealed that the mean and standard deviation for each of the identified dimensions were encouraging. A discussion between teachers and the management was important in reducing the number of LINUS (LBI) pupils.
In another study, Othman, Normarini, Darusalam and Siraj (2011) studied the relationship between implementation of the LINUS program and challenges that the LINUS teachers had to face in attaining the mastery of literacy skills. The findings revealed that having well-planned strategies, coupled with teaching and learning plans from the teachers involved could overcome the obstacles and challenges faced. Although most of the language teachers had a positive attitude towards the subject, it was revealed that they still lack the skills in teaching the program.
Nazariyah Sani and Abdul Rahman Idris (2013) examined school leaders' understanding of the implementation of the LINUS program based on features highlighted by Van Meter and Van Horn (1975). The model was adopted for the implementation of the LINUS program in four Selangor schools. The findings showed that the good understanding of the program's objectives was the major factor in the success of program. Thus, with minor modifications of Van Meter and Van Horn's Program implementation model, it could be useful for the implementation of the LINUS (LBI) 2.0 program in school.
In another study, Marina Ramle (2012) investigated the effect of technical instruction on reading skills performance of the LINUS pupils. A pre-test and post-test using a pattern matching with non-equivalent dependent variable was carried out to identify the effect of the technical instruction: repetition, progression, educate entertaining and technique of intermingling was carried out. The study identified that there was a significant improvement on LINUS pupils' achievement of reading basic skills.
Furthermore, Tubah and Hamid (2011) examined the influence of demography on reading and comprehension skills of LINUS pupils. The study was built on Vygotsky's theories on the role of "scaffolding" and "ZPT''. They suggested that these two concepts serve as a guide for the LINUS teachers in teaching reading and comprehension skills in the LINUS class. The study revealed that not all the demographic factors of pupils or teachers seem to influence the pupils' reading and comprehension skills. This demonstrates that the LINUS teachers must be able to determine the pupils' readiness, and are clear about the level or stages of guidance (scaffolding) that needs to be delivered to the LINUS pupils. It would be valuable for the LINUS teachers to acquire the psycholinguistic method of teaching, which emphasizes mental ability and mastery of language. This could facilitate the pupils' reading and comprehension skills.
A study by Yamat, Fisher and Rich (2014) focused an ethnographic case study with three aged six primary school pupils. The findings of the study indicated that acquisition of the second Teachers' Perception on the Implementation of the LINUS LBI 2.0 Program language was done through play and use, and began with the pupil's development of confidence at the early stage. The implications of the results are examined in the light of English Language policy for teaching English to Malaysian primary school pupils. The study concluded and implies that changes or interventions should be made early particularly for English Language teaching at primary schools. However, it was identified that only a limited number of research has been conducted on English language literacy among primary school pupils in Malaysia which is relatable to LINUS LBI.

Research Design
For this study, a mixed method research design was chosen. Mixed method research design is the type of research in which a researcher combines elements of qualitative and quantitative approaches for the broad purposes of breadth and depth of understanding and corroboration (Johnson & Christensen, 2007). This approach to research is used when this integration provides a better understanding of the research problem than either of each alone.

Participants
Purposive sampling was used in this study. The participants were selected based on two criteria. The first criteria in determining the population sample of the study is the schools which have failed in achieving the LBI KPI for the year 2018.
Another criterion that was used to select the participants of the study is that they represent Grade B schools. This study was conducted with thirty six Grade B schools in Temerloh District. The teachers who have been teaching English subject for the lower primary pupils were selected as the participants. The schools were located in the rural area of Temerloh district.

Data Collection
This study embraced mixed method approach and thus employed methods that are in line with the study. The research instruments are teacher individual interview and questionnaire. For this study, 5-point Likert scale is used. Likert developed the principles of measuring attitude by asking people to respond to a series of statements. The number of teachers selected an option for a statement, determined if they strongly disagreed, disagreed, not sure of the response, agreed, and strongly agreed to the statement.
As the teacher has a direct involvement with the issue studied, individual in-

Data Analysis
The quantitative data consisted of results from the questionnaire administered to the teachers. The number of teachers selected an option for a statement. All the data were collected, processed and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS). The data were statistically analyzed using frequency counts and percentage distribution. The percentage distribution was computed to determine if the unavailability of resources and facilities together with lack of training and support has contributed to the failure in the achievement of LBI KPI. The data from interviews were analyzed using Burnard's method (Burnard et al., 2008). Burnard proposes 14 stages in analysing qualitative data. Burnard's method is based on a synthesis between grounded and content analysis approach. This method was used to categorize and code the transcribed interview data. The three themes derived from the responses: 1) Pupils' attendance, 2) Cooperation from stakeholders, and 3) Pedagogical knowledge.

Results and Discussion
The findings of this study have indicated that the resources and facilities are unavailable in schools. This was in terms of module, activity books, teaching aids, and special facilities. Besides, lack of training and support was also identified.
Through the individual interview, it was identified that attendance, cooperation, and pedagogical knowledge were also equally important and contributing factors in this case.

Does the Unavailability of Resources and Facilities Contribute to the Failure in the Achievement of LBI KPI in Grade B National Schools in Temerloh District?
This questionnaire entitled "Resources and Facilities" was administered to all 80 participants based on four subsections. The answers are divided into 4 parts which answers the four subsections; 1) Module and activity books, 2) Instruments, 3) Teaching aids facilities, and 4) Special Facilities. number of LINUS modules provided to the schools were also found to be nor equivalent to the number of pupils who did not achieve the constructs. This was supported by 37 participants with a rate of 46.2%. 33 participants with a rate of 41.2% disagreed that the LINUS modules provided follows the twelve constructs exactly. The content of the module was general and the teachers were required to find the suitable content of the module which matches the construct they intend to teach. Finally, the effectiveness of using the modules in improving the pupils' acquisition of the twelve construct was questioned. For this, 30 participants with a total rate of 37.5% chose not sure as their response.

Instruments
For every writing screening test, the instrument was given by the Ministry to each school based on the number of pupils enrolled. This was strongly agreed by 44 participants with the rate of 55%. The instruments given were also error-free had to settle almost every work besides their core business which was teaching.
The time constraint factor has prohibited teachers to come up with teaching aids. Hence, it was proven that teaching aids facilities are not provided and the teachers are needed to be provide with teaching aids.

Special Facilities
A large number of participants disagreed that there was a separate room prepared to conduct the LINUS screening test. 37 participants with the rate of 46.2% disagreed to this. The data from the interview was used to triangulate the data for this section. The cooperation of school administrator's factor was linked to this. Such facilities should be prepared by the school administrators as it helps the teacher to conduct the screening test. The availability of "Guru Pemulihan" is another factor that was studied. It was a known factor that "Guru Pemulihan" helped pupils who did not achieve the KPI in LBM and Numerasi. However, for LBI, "Guru Pemulihan" was not able to guide the pupils. This totally depended on the teachers who teach the subject. Hence, 66 participants have strongly disagreed that "Guru Pemulihan" is available to help with the pupils who did not achieve the KPI. Bokhari et al. (2015) also supported that these English teachers had to double up their effort as remedial teachers as well since there were no assistance for them. Interventions planned were another resource that aided teachers in achieving the targeted constructs and KPI. 53 participants with the rate of 66.2% disagreed that the screening test is easier to be conducted during teaching and learning session. 39 participants with the rate of 48.7% disagreed that the interventions are planned right after the screening test. For the following statement, 43 participants with 53.7% disagreed that interventions helped in overcoming the shortcomings. This is mainly because teachers do not present their intervention ideas usually. Only the headmasters were called for the session.
In short, it can be concluded that the unavailability of resources and facilities are indeed a deciding factor of failure in achieving the LBI KPI. This is because there was not any activity book besides LINUS modules were given to schools. Matimbe (2014) is of the view that lack of instructional materials such as syllabi and textbooks to use during teaching and learning process negatively affects effective teaching. The number of modules given was not equivalent to the number of pupils. Sawchuck (2011) posits that the provision of textbooks at a ratio of either one book per child or one book for every two children make a very significant difference on achievement. Most of the teachers also disagreed that the modules are effective in improving the pupils' acquisition. Secondly, there were not enough ICT facilities to be used in this LINUS course and teachers came up with their own teaching aids which are time consuming. However, the resources provided by the Ministry, which is the Screening Test instrument was provided equivalent to the number of pupils and is error-free. The participants also agreed that the coordinators having wide knowledge about the screening test which was helpful for all the teachers. Lastly, the special requirements such as having a separate room for screening, "Guru Pemulihan" to help with the LBI as well were factors to be considered in regards to failure in achieving LBI KPI. This was supported by Adeogun (2001), where he discovered a very strong positive significant relationship between instructional resources and academic performance. Hence, this answers the first research question that unavailability of resources and facilities did contribute to the failure in the achievement of LBI KPI in grade B national schools in Temerloh District.

Does Lack of Training and Support Contribute to the Failure in the Achievement of LBI KPI in Grade B National Schools in Temerloh District?
The questionnaire entitled "Training and Support" was administered to all 80 participants based on three subsections. The answers are divided into 3 parts which answers the three subsections; 1) PPD Facilitators; 2) LINUS coordinators; and 3) Dialog Perlaksanaan Intervensi.

PPD Facilitators
Each school was appointed with one or two facilitators to guide the teachers with LINUS screening test and its administration. Before each screening test, a briefing is conducted at the PPD level by the facilitators. However, 42.5% of participants, which was 34 participants have disagreed that the briefing is conducted to all the lower primary teachers who were involved with the LINUS LBI screening. Only the coordinators or selected teachers were called for the briefing. Yet, the briefing given by the facilitators was precise and clear, which was supported by 40 participants with the rate of 50%. The facilitators have also guided the teachers throughout the screening test. This was particularly done when the facilitators do their monthly visit to the schools. This was agreed by 45 participants with the rate of 56.2%. Nevertheless, the participants have disagreed that the facilitators accept when more than 10 pupils could not achieve the KPI.

LINUS Coordinators
It was proved that before each screening test, a briefing is conducted to all the LINUS teachers in schools. This was agreed by 40 participants with the rate of 50%.

What Are the Other Contributing Factors to the Failure in the Achievement of LBI KPI in Grade B National Schools in Temerloh District?
This interview was administered to all 80 participants. There were 54 optionists and 26 non-optionists. Most of the participants had at least five years of teaching experience. The rest of them were senior teachers who had ten to fifteen years of teaching English experience. They have been administering the LINUS LBI screening test for the past five years. Almost all of them answered and agreed that the LBI KPI is the most difficult to achieve as it was the second language of the pupils. The answers for the open ended questions were divided into three parts which answers the three themes; 1) Attendance; 2) Cooperation, and 3) Pedagogical knowledge.

Attendance
Most of the participants were expressing that pupils' attendance had a great impact on the failure in the achievement of LBI KPI in grade B national schools in Temerloh district. This statement is derived from the teacher's interview responses. Wadesango & Machingambi (2011) states that, students who have absenteeism problems are at higher risk of poor performance. The participants have confessed that they faced a serious problem when it comes to pupils' attendance. Their attitude determines the achievement of the KPI. Even though a few measures were taken, there were not any changes in the pupils' attendance. Out of 36 schools, almost 15 schools had this problem.
A lot of intervention programs especially to attract pupils' attention and make them interested in going to school were carried out. For example, giving out free food coupon, star badges, RM 1 per day, 30 minutes play-time and so on. The findings also support the findings of other researches that Malaysian students are more extrinsically motivated than intrinsically motivated (Zubairi & Sarudin, 2009). Some schools had meetings with the parents, Parents Teachers Association members and representatives to come up with a solution for this problem.
However, some pupils were still not interested in going to schools. Their negative attitude has a great impact on this issue. This was supported by Asraf and Ahmad (2003), as they found that negative attitudes lead to class anxiety, low cognitive achievement, and low motivation. The Participants added that this issue was discussed in all levels, especially in school meetings, PPD meetings and LINUS meetings. Yet, there was not any definite solution that solved this problem. The blame was still on the teachers.
Pupils' attendance has a great impact on the achievement of LBI KPI. The consequences of poor attendance can be far reaching. Neill (1979) found that lack of school attendance could lead to permanent intellectual damage to students, as gaps in students' knowledge bases would be likely to arise. Even though

Cooperation
Parents too, should play active role in encouraging their children to do well in the language (Siti & Melor, 2014). The parents' cooperation was beneficial and influential to the overall success of the school (Cotton & Wikelund, 2001). This goal could further be achieved when the parents participates fully in their children's educational process by attending their children's school functions such as attending Parent Teacher's Association's (PTA) meetings. First, it was mentioned that some parents care less about the pupils' achievement. They believed that pupils' academic achievement relies solely on teachers. Even when the pupils fail to acquire the skills, the teachers were to be blamed. It was also revealed that, when the school authorities had meetings to clarify issues and find solutions to problems like attendance, academic achievement and moral issue, these parents sometimes, would not attend the meetings. Even when they attend, they do not care about the pupils' progress. Second cooperation scenario that happened with the parents was they do not accept the pupils' progress as it is. When the pupils were asked to stay for intervention classes due to their poor achievement in LBI, the parents were in a great shock. Only then, they realized that their children's progress needs to be improved. However, they went and blame the teachers for it. This happened in most of the schools. It was revealed that the parents' have some issues with their children attending the intervention classes when the other children do not have to. The school administrations as the education stakeholders too were the contributing factors of this issue. The cooperation issue with the schools administrators was sometimes they had difficulty in understanding the real issue. The teachers were putting so much effort into LINUS issue. So many interventions were planned and carried out. There were still some pupils who did not make any progress. Yet, the school administrators had difficulty in understanding this and they kept on pushing the teachers to come up different plans to solve this issue. Some administrators too had problem when the teachers could not achieve the KPI set by the Ministry. Every school that faced this scenario had to attend the Dialog Pelaksanaan Intervensi. In order to avoid this, there was so much pressure on the teachers. The data from the questionnaire was used to triangulate the data for this section. The data from the questionnaire revealed that there were special requirements such as availability of separate room to conduct the screening test. However, there was not enough cooperation from the school administrators in preparing the special requirements needed for the screening test.

Pedagogical Knowledge
Another contributing factor to this failure in the achievement of LBI KPI is be- English teachers in school were a major issue so they were given the responsibility to teach English Language. These participants agreed that it was tiring to come up with different solutions for the failure in the achievement of LBI KPI.
There was a lot of pressure on them. However, they put so much effort into this to make sure the pupils excel. They expressed that they survived all this while with the guidance from the senior teachers and the sharing session among their friends. Thus, this calls for skilled and trained English Language teachers with the imposition of language proficiency. This should make as a prerequisite (Azman, 2016).
Thus, this section identified the other contributing factors which answered the third research question and that it is important to be considered by the Ministry of Education in implementing a program. A careful look into these issues determines if the LBI KPPI could or could not be achieved.

Implication
A program's success has implications on its stakeholders. Malaysian Education system aimed to produce pupils who are developed holistically and acquire all skills to be globally competent. This is in line with the National Education Philosophy and the New Education Blueprint (2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017)(2018)(2019)(2020)(2021)(2022)(2023)(2024)(2025). In order to be globally Through this research, the Ministry of Education will be aware of the factors faced by the teachers which contribute to the issue which will make ways for implementation of new plans and programs that ease teacher's work. It is expected for Ministry to equip teachers with the training, support, facilities and resources which help teachers to improve their teaching method so that it can help learners to acquire the basic literacy skill, especially English Language Literacy skills.

Recommendation
The Third, knowledge on pedagogy should allow teachers to manipulate all the teaching method for teaching and learning purposes. Therefore, it is also important to study the teachers' pedagogical knowledge in administering LINUS screening. Preparing in-training teachers for the real classroom is also crucial to meet the challenges of teaching English as non-optionists. In this way, the non-optionists will be equipped with the knowledge on how to overcome that raises in ESL classroom. Finally, this study could also be expanded on areas of suggestions for improvisation of LINUS LBI screening test administration. This study has only focused on the factors of the failure that the teachers were facing. Yet, the suggestion for improvisation was not explored. This could help the other teachers to know which method or approach to be used in tackling the factors. Therefore, future researchers could look into this need.

Conclusion
This research was conducted to investigate teacher's perceptions on failure in achieving LBI KPI in grade B national schools in Temerloh District. The findings of the study indicated that the unavailability of resources and facilities and lack of training and support contributed to the failure in the achievement of LBI KPI. Teachers too shared the other contributing factors they faced in achieving the LBI KPI through the interview.
All these factors have contributed to the failure in the achievement of LBI KPI. This can be seen from the questionnaire data and interview data. More resources and facilities together with training and support should be provided. Pupils' attendance, cooperation of the stakeholders and pedagogical knowledge had a higher influence on the issue. In this 4th Industrial Revolution, soft skills are given importance. The basic of soft skills largely depends on the literacy skills. Hence, acquiring the literacy skills, especially English Language is compulsory. In order to achieve the LBI KPI, the factors contributing to this issue should be studied in detail. This benefits most of the stakeholders.