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International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling 18:97-113, 1996. © 1996 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
Assessment of counselling needs: A comparative study of the perceptions of primary school teachers in Lesotho and Malaysia
SALLY L. NAVIN, ~ NORAN FAUZIAH YAAKUB & OTHMAN MOHAMED z Ohio University, 2 Universiti Pertanian Malaysia
Abstract. In this paper the results of a study conducted to determine the perception of coun- selling needs by primary school teachers in Malaysia and Lesotho are reported. To this end, teachers were asked about the special needs of students they teach, how they cope with these students, what assistance they would like to have in teaching, and the best approach for dealing with student concerns. Teachers in Lesotho are dealing with larger numbers of special needs students and thus are having more difficulties than Malaysian teachers. Malaysian teachers appeared to be more interested in improving their teaching effectiveness. There was some variation in the perceptions of how to best deal with student concerns.
Introduct ion
The critical need for substantive educational development in all countries of the world is unquestioned. Russell (1984) in a discussion on the devel- opment of one unit in the National University of Lesotho emphasized this universality in thought by stating that 'We are not alone in our faith in education . . . . We are in good company. Leaders in many countries have high expectations for education' (p. 151). More specific to the purpose of this study, Soliman (1991) suggested that counselling and guidance, impor- tant elements in the educational process, are among the most effective means for developing human potential. In an effort to more clearly understand the counselling needs as identified by primary school teachers in one African and one Asian nation, this comparative study was conducted in Lesotho and Malaysia.
Lesotho is a small African nation surrounded by South Africa with a population of approximately 1.9 million persons. Independence from Great Britain was achieved in 1966 (Lesotho Ministry of Health, 1993). Malaysia, once also under British rule, in 1957 gained full independence. The country is part of the mainland of Asia and has a population of approximately 19 million persons (Sin, 1993).
98
Education in Lesotho
Formal education was initiated in Lesotho in 1833 by three missionaries of the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society who had been invited to meet the then King of Lesotho, Moshoeshoe (Butterfield, 1977). In the mid 1860s, the Catholic Oblates of St. Mary Immaculate and, later, the Anglican Church of the Province of South Africa were further instrumental in the development of formal education programs in Lesotho. During the 1920s numerous reports on education in the territory were produced. One of the most noted was the report of the Phelps-Stokes Committee which originated in the United States and was supported by the British Colonial Office and the South African government. Terms of reference for this Committee included the investigation of current activities, the determination of the educational needs of the citi- zenry, and the creation of recommendations for educational development (Butterfield, 1977).
Following this committee report, education in Lesotho proceeded steadily but somewhat slowly until the outbreak of World War II. In t944, the Colonial Development and Welfare Act greatly increased British financial assistance to her colonies (Butterfield, 1977) and education in Lesotho was improved tremendously. Foundations for future educational developments were estab- lished at this time.
At the higher education level, Pius XII College was created in 1945, became the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland in 1964 and finally a separate institution in 1975, the National University of Lesotho. By 1961, there were seven teacher training colleges but today all primary school teachers are educated at the National Teacher Training College (NTTC), where four courses of study leading to certificates are offered: Primary Teaching (PTC), Advanced Primary Teaching (APTC), Junior Secondary Teaching (STC), and Secondary Technical Teaching (STTC). In addition to these programs, in-service education is also offered at the NTTC to under-quali- fied teachers and headmasters under the Lesotho In-Service Education for Teachers (LIET) program. Currently, the NTTC programs, all under the direct jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, are undergoing revisions to increase the number of teachers trained annually as there were only 181 graduates in 1990 (Sauvegeot, 1992), enhance curricular efforts, improve management and personnel administration measures and expand the time for training from the current two-year period (Snyder, 199 t).
Education in Malaysia
The development of the current school system in Malaysia is closely related to the evolution of a plural society in the country itself. The present system of education had its beginnings with the coming of the British to the Malay Peninsula in the nineteenth century. The British in Malaya adopted a policy of 'divide and rule,' which was responsible for education being provided in
99
four languages, English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil. Education was offered at the elementary level since the objective was to make the Malays better farmers and fishermen. By 1938, there were 788 Malay schools (Ministry of Education, Malaysia, 1970).
English education was first introduced in 1816 with the establishment of the Penang Free School by Rev. R. S. Hutchings. This was followed by another school in the Straits Settlements in Singapore (1824) and another in Malacca (1926). By 1938, there were 46 government English schools, 59 assisted English schools and 206 private English schools (Ministry of Education, Malaysia, 1981).
Chinese education began in 1829 in Singapore. The curriculum was China- oriented and both textbooks and teachers were brought in from China. Because the development of Chinese education was greatly influenced by the political developments in China, the British government began to provide financial assistance to some of the Chinese schools. By 1938, there were more Chinese schools than English with a total of 305 fully assisted Chinese schools and 331 supported by private Chinese organizations (Ministry of Education, Malaysia, 1970).
Tamil education in Malaya was the result of private enterprise. The British government did not provide education for immigrants but in 1902 this policy changed when Tamil education for Indian children was introduced (Phang, 1973). Prompted by the increasing demand for more stable and cheap Indian labor in the rubber estates, these schools were primarily developed in these locations. Like the Chinese schools, the curriculum and teachers of Tamil schools were oriented toward their home-country, India (Phang).
Higher education was offered in English with the creation of King Edward VII Medical School in 1905 and Raffles College in 1928 where Arts and Sciences courses were offered. The McLean Commission, formed in 1938, recommended the amalgamation of these two colleges as the first step toward full university status. This was accomplished in 1949 when the University of Malaya was officially founded in Singapore (Phang, 1973). Currently there are nine universities in Malaysia, seven in Peninsular Malaysia and one each in the states of Sabah and Sarawak (Yaakub, 1990).
Formal teacher training for Malay schools began in 1884 in Singapore (Ministry of Education, Malaysia, 1985). Today the preparation of primary school teachers in Malaysia is carried out in any of the 28 teacher training colleges in the country. These colleges are administered directly by the Teacher Education Division (TED) in the Ministry of Education. The teacher educa- tion curriculum of most courses, especially foundation courses, is also under the central jurisdiction of the examination and evaluation unit of the TED (Ministry of Education, 1993).
Each year approximately 10,00 teacher trainees are selected from nearly 40,000 applicants (Yaakub and Ayob, 1990). Since the last decade, several changes have taken place in the education of these teacher trainees, either in terms of curriculum content, duration of the teacher education course of study
100
or the implementation of teaching practicum (Yaakub, 1990). Apart from providing pre-service teacher education, in-service education in some of the teachers' colleges has been implemented. The aim of these teacher in-service programs is (1) to upgrade the academic and professional knowledge of teachers and to widen their experiences in various subject disciplines, (2) to orient teachers toward new developments in teaching methodology techniques and curricular programs, and (3) to enhance the commitment and motivation of tenured teachers (Ministry of Education, Malaysia, 1990).
Purpose
It is to be expected that teachers will experience having a wide variety of children with differing abilities and difficulties in their classes. These unique students could be experiencing physical, cognitive, social or emotional diffi- culties; family or health problems, or career concerns. Based on the personal experiences of the authors in teacher training institutions in both countries, it is known that pre-service education programs for teachers do not include coun- selling components. For this reason it was decided that it would be of interest to determine whether teachers in both countries, Lesotho and Malaysia, have any expertise in handling the different types of children they must teach.
The overall objective of this paper is to compare the counselling needs assessed by two groups of teachers, one in a southern nation, Lesotho, and the other in an eastern nation, Malaysia. The rationale for choosing these coun- tries stemmed from an interest of the authors in comparing these two cultures in differing parts of the world as both are small developing countries evolving their own national systems in the aftermath of colonial rule.
Questions
The following questions were selected for examination in this study: (1) What are the types of special students found in primary schools in Lesotho and Malaysia? (2) How well do these teachers cope with the different types of children found in their respective classrooms? (3) What types of assistance would these teachers like to have? (4) How do these teachers think their students' problems should be resolved?
Method
Population
In Lesotho in August, 1992, 98 primary school teachers who were attending in-service training at the National Teacher Training ColLege participated in
101
the study. These teachers were from each of the ten districts in the country, thus representing perceptions of all areas of the nation. In Malaysia in October, 1992, 92 primary school teachers who attended an in-service course at one of the teachers' colleges participated in this comparative study. Even though these teachers were from one college, they came from all areas of Malaysia.
Instrument
A questionnaire was developed to determine primary school teachers' per- ceptions of guidance and counselling needs in Lesotho and Malaysia. The authors made the assumption that new programs in guidance and counselling in both countries would need to begin with the teaching/learning process and the counsellor might best serve the countries initially as a consultant to teachers. Prior to distribution of the Primary School Teacher Guidance and Counselling Needs Assessment Questionnaire, this instrument was field tested with several groups of persons including a country-wide Guidance and Counselling Executive Committee and 22 Teacher Training College lecturers. Minor changes were made and the questionnaire was distributed to the teachers by two of the authors of this study, one a guidance and counselling consultant in Lesotho and the other a university professor in Malaysia. This instrument was comprised of four sections: (1) the number and type of special students teachers dealt with during a school year with these available responses: none, few, four or less, many, five or more and don't know; (2) the manner in which teachers cope with these students with these available responses: with difficulty, reasonably well, and don't know; (3) the kinds of assistance teachers would like in using a variety of teaching techniques, with the these available responses: yes, no, don't know and not my responsibility; and (4) identification of the most effective method for dealing with student problems with these available responses: referral, representatives address students, parents should handle, and resource teacher. Finally, teachers were asked to comment on the content of the questionnaire.
Data analysis
All items pertaining to special needs students, teachers' coping ability, assis- tance requested by teachers, and resolution of student's problems were sub- jected to non-parametric analysis by using the chi-square test. The purpose of this analysis was to determine whether any issues in any of the four main categories were associated with country.
102
Results
Special students
In the first section of the questionnaire, teachers were asked to give a rough estimate of the following types of special needs students they dealt with during a school year: (a) physically handicapped or those with other physical problems; (b) cognitive differences including the gifted and slow learners; (c) social difficulties including being a loner, truant, pregnant, stealing or school and community problems; (d) emotional difficulties in terms of lack of interest in school or other personal problems; (e) family problems as frequent fighting, drinking, strict parents or guardians and financial difficul- ties; (f) health difficulties including AIDS, drug abuse, or using traditional medicine; and (e) career choice problems.
In Table 1, the percentage of all respondents who indicated they taught each of the special types of children is presented with the percentage of Malaysian and Lesotho teachers following. If there was a significant difference between the two groups of teachers, the degree of significance is noted.
As can be seen in Table 1, teachers in Lesotho are dealing with a larger number of special needs students than are teachers in Malaysia. Basotho (two or more persons from Lesotho) teachers are teaching more physically handi- capped and students with other physical problems; slow learners; students, who are loners or are pregnant; students with family financial problems, strict parents or drinking problems at home; and health concerns including AIDS, drug abuse and using traditional medicine than Malaysian teachers (p < 0.01). More Malaysian teachers are dealing with truants and students who steal than Basotho teachers (p < 0.01). More Basotho teachers are teaching students who experience frequent fights at home than Malaysian teachers (p < 0.05).
Coping ability
In the second section of the questionnaire, teachers were asked to indicate how they coped with these special needs students. In Table 2, the percentage of responses of all teachers, Malaysian teachers and Basotho teachers in the three categories, well, with difficulty and don't know, are found. If the dif- ference is significant, these are noted as well.
In Table 2, it is seen that teachers in Lesotho are having more difficulty in dealing with special needs students than are those in Malaysia. For example, Basotho teachers indicated more problems in teaching handicapped students, children with other physical difficulties, loners, and students with family finan- cial problems than Malaysian teachers (p < 0.01). Basotho teachers also have more difficulty in dealing with pregnant students, children with strict parents or guardians, students who have parents who fight frequently or drink, and children who use traditional medicine than Malaysian teachers (p < 0.05).
Tab
le 1
. P
erce
nt o
f sp
ecia
l n
eed
s st
uden
ts f
or a
ll te
ache
rs,
for
Mal
aysi
an a
nd L
esot
ho t
each
ers
and
sign
ific
ance
of
dif
fere
nce
.
Non
e S
ome
Do
n't
kno
w
All
M
alay
sia
Les
otho
A
ll
Mal
aysi
a L
esot
ho
All
M
alay
sia
Les
otho
Sig
nif
ican
ce
Phy
sica
l H
andi
capp
ed
64
Oth
er d
iffi
cult
ies
65
Cog
niti
ve
Gif
ted
15
Slo
w l
earn
ers
14
Soc
ial
Sch
ool/
Com
m.
16
Tru
ants
21
S
teal
ing
36
Lon
ers
6 t
Pre
gnan
cy
72
Em
otio
nal
Lac
k sc
hool
int
eres
t 25
P
erso
nal
conc
erns
20
F
amil
y F
inan
cial
11
S
tric
t pa
rent
19
F
requ
ent
figh
ts
30
Dri
nkin
g 47
H
ealt
h A
IDS
con
cern
s 68
D
rug
abus
e 61
U
sing
tra
d. r
eed.
22
C
aree
r C
aree
r ch
oice
20
89
40
31
9 53
5
2 7
97
35
30
3 57
4
0 8
20
11
81
76
85
4 4
4 27
2
80
67
92
6 6
6
17
14
70
71
71
14
12
15
20
21
67
79
56
12
1 23
48
25
49
60
58
15
12
17
72
50
26
14
38
13
14
12
91
53
15
0
28
13
9 19
31
19
67
60
72
8 9
9 25
14
59
59
60
21
16
26
20
3 72
62
82
17
18
15
33
6
52
33
70
29
34
24
32
27
42
34
50
28
34
23
61
34
27
9 45
26
30
21
85
53
2 0
4 30
15
43
77
46
18
4
31
21
19
23
33
11
37
20
54
41
47
35
25
15
45
47
44
35
28
4
0.01
0.
01
n.s
.
0.01
n.s
.
0.01
0.
01
0.01
0.
01
n.s
.
n.s
.
0.01
0.
01
0.05
0.
01
0.01
0.
01
0.01
n.s
.
n.s,
: no
t si
gnif
ican
t.
~,~
Tab
le 2
, P
erce
nt o
f ab
ilit
y of
cop
e w
ith
spec
ial
stud
ents
for
all
tea
cher
s, f
or M
alay
sian
and
Les
otho
tea
cher
s an
d si
gnif
ican
ce o
f di
ffer
ence
,
Per
cent
ages
Wel
l D
iffi
cult
D
on't
kno
w
Sig
nifi
canc
e
4~
All
M
alay
sia
Les
otho
A
ll
Mal
aysi
a L
esot
ho
All
M
alay
sia
Les
otho
Phy
sica
l H
andi
capp
ed
17
Oth
er d
iffi
cult
ies
15
Cog
niti
ve
Gif
ted
68
Slo
w l
earn
ers
30
Soc
ial
Sch
ool/
Com
m.
40
Tru
ants
41
S
teal
ing
31
Lon
ers
30
Pre
gnan
cy
8 E
mot
iona
l L
ack
scho
ol i
nter
est
36
Per
sona
l co
ncer
ns
40
Fam
ily
Fin
anci
al
25
Str
ict
pare
nt/g
uard
. 30
F
requ
ent
figh
ts
9 D
rink
ing
18
Hea
lth
AID
S c
once
rns
7 D
rug
abus
e 16
U
sing
tra
d. m
ed.
23
Car
eer
Car
eer
choi
ce
45
9 26
31
22
40
52
70
35
0.
01
5 25
31
20
41
54
75
35
0.
01
64
72
10
8 13
21
28
14
n.
s,
26
35
53
53
54
16
21
11
n.s.
35
45
30
33
28
30
33
28
n.s.
47
37
32
32
33
22
31
26
n.
s,
35
28
32
27
36
37
38
37
n,s.
38
23
28
12
44
41
50
33
0.
01
4 12
22
13
30
70
83
57
0.
05
37
43
43
40
46
21
21
20
n.s.
37
43
29
30
28
31
33
30
n,
s.
22
27
40
32
49
35
47
24
0.01
19
41
26
27
26
44
54
34
0.
05
4 12
22
13
30
70
83
57
0.
05
12
25
28
23
34
53
65
41
0.05
5 8
18
17
1 77
72
75
n.
s,
16
16
28
22
34
56
52
50
n.s.
14
32
18
15
21
58
71
47
0.
05
51
41
13
9 16
42
40
43
n.
s,
n.s.
: no
t si
gnif
ican
t.
105
Teaching assistance requested
In the third section of the questionnaire, teachers were asked what type of teaching assistance they would like to have. Approaches in three areas were listed: pedagogical, classroom management and interpersonal relationships. In Table 3, percentages of responses and levels of significance for all teachers, for Malaysian and Basotho teachers are found.
As can be seen in Table 3, there are significant differences in nearly all areas of teaching assistance requested. However, there is only one difference at p < 0.01 with Malaysian teachers indicating a need to have more assis- tance in ordering materials. All of the remaining requests were significant at p < 0.05.
Dealing with student concerns
In Table 4, percentages of responses and levels of significance for Malaysian and Basotho teachers regarding the most effective ways of dealing with student concerns are found. Available responses were making referrals, bringing in representatives, asking parents to deal with the problems, and having a resource teacher in the school.
Differences, significant at p < 0.05, are seen in Table 4 in each of the approaches for dealing with student concerns including making referrals, bringing in outside representatives, asking parents to assist their own children and having a resource teacher or counsellor to work with these students. More Malaysian that Basotho teachers favored these techniques.
Discussion
Special needs students
Physical difficulties To determine if the respondents were teaching children with physical differ- ences, two questions were asked regarding students with physical handicaps and children with other physical problems. Almost two-thirds (64%) of the respondents stated that they were not teaching students with physical handi- caps. Only about one-third (31%) said they were teaching handicapped students; 5% indicated that they did not have information on this question. An examination of the distribution of responses for the two groups of teachers indicates that the existence of handicapped children in the classroom is asso- ciated with country. More than half (53%) of the Basotho teachers reported having physically handicapped children in their classes as compared to only 9% of the Malaysian teachers giving the same response. The high percentage for Basotho teachers is not surprising, however, as there are only two schools in the country for disabled children, one in Motsekuoa for physically handi-
o
Tab
le 3
. P
erce
nt o
f al
l te
ache
rs,
Mal
aysi
an a
nd L
esot
ho t
each
ers
requ
esti
ng t
each
ing
assi
stan
ce a
nd s
igni
fica
nce
of d
iffe
renc
e.
Yes
N
o D
on't
kno
w
Not
My
Res
pons
ibil
ity
Sig
nifi
canc
e
All
M
alay
sia
Les
otho
A
ll
Mal
aysi
a L
esot
ho
All
M
alay
sia
Les
otho
A
ll
Mal
aysi
a L
esot
ho
Ped
agog
ical
S
mal
l gr
oups
89
96
U
sing
aid
s 89
97
L
esso
n pl
anni
ng
87
96
Tea
chin
g m
ore
effe
ctiv
ely
85
97
Dia
gnos
ing
lear
ning
pro
blem
s 83
92
R
emed
ial
teac
hing
78
86
C
lass
room
man
agem
ent
Dis
cipl
ine
87
95
Ord
erin
g m
ater
ials
83
95
B
eaut
ifyi
ng c
lass
room
84
95
U
sing
com
m.
reso
urce
s 74
85
In
terp
erso
nal
rela
tion
ship
s P
aren
ts
83
83
Pro
blem
chi
ldre
n 78
86
S
choo
l le
aver
s 78
86
83
t 1
1 8
3 12
2
0 4
0.05
32
2
0 3
8 3
12
1 0
2 0.
05
80
3 1
4 8
3 13
2
0 3
0.05
75
4
0 7
10
3 15
2
0 3
0.05
75
3
0 6
12
8 16
2
0 3
0.05
70
5
3 7
14
ll
18
2 0
4 0.
05
81
3 2
3 8
3 12
2
0 3
0.05
72
7
3 10
8
2 14
2
0 3
0.01
75
3
1 5
11
3 17
2
1 3
0.05
64
8
4 11
16
10
21
2
1 3
0.05
83
5 10
1
9 5
12
3 2
4 n.
s.
71
6 3
8 13
11
15
3
0 5
0.05
70
4
2 6
15
11
18
3 1
5 0.
05
n.s.
: no
t si
gnif
ican
t.
107
Table 4. Percentages of responses regarding most effective ways of dealing with student concerns and significant differences.
Agree Disagree Undecided Missing Significance
Referral Malaysian 86 3 11 - - Lesotho 60 24 13 3 0.05
Outside reps Malaysian 92 - 8 - - Lesotho 70 10 16 3 0.05
Parents Malaysian 27 55 ! 7 - - Lesotho 7 79 1 t 3 0.05
Resource teacher Malaysian 83 8 9 - - Lesotho 65 17 14 3 0.05
capped children and another in Maseru for blind children (B. Makhakhame, personal communication, March 1, 1995). As for Malaysia, there are 26 elementary schools for handicapped children (Ministry of Education, Malaysia, 1993) and thus more children are placed in these special schools than in ordinary schools. This is further supported by the fact that a great majority (89%) of the Malaysian teachers reported that they did not teach physically handicapped children.
The second question regarding children with physical difficulties dealt with children with other physical problems. Again it is shown in the results that more Basotho teachers (57%) reported teaching students with other physical problems with only 3% of the Malaysian teachers giving the same response. The differences in the responses to both statements are related to the fact that in the more developed country, Malaysia, there are special services and school environments for children with physical problems and thus these students are less often seen in the regular classroom. In addition, better health conditions and services exist in Malaysia. In the latest life expectancy data, it is shown that the mean years for Malaysians is 71 and for Basotho it is 62. The ratio of Malaysians per doctor is 1:2,638 persons and for Basotho it is 1:15,728 persons (World Almanac, 1995).
Cognitive differences The respondents were asked if they taught two types of children with cogni- tive differences: gifted and slow learners. A similar pattern was seen among the respondents regarding teaching gifted students with 81% of all respon- dents, 76% of Malaysian teachers, and 85% of Basotho stating they taught these students. However, in terms of teaching slow learners a majority (92%) of Basotho teachers as compared to 76% of the Malaysian teachers stated that they taught these students. Again, this difference is related to the devel- opment of the educational program in Malaysian. Special classrooms for slow
108
learning students have been in operation for some time. In Lesotho, a special education curriculum was not introduced to the NTTC staff until mid-1993 and thus nearly all Basotho teachers have not had training in dealing with special needs students (Education Sector Development Plan 1991/1992- 1995/1996, 1992). In addition, 20% of the Basotho teaching staff are unqual- ified or do not have a certificate or degree (Sauvegeot, 1992) which would certainly impact their ability to deal with special students.
Social differences Regarding social differences and/or other difficulties, the respondents were asked how many children they were teaching had school and community problems and were truant, stole, were loners or pregnant. Similar responses were made on school and community problems with 70% of all respon- dents, 71% of the Malaysian teachers and 71% of the Basotho teachers indicating their students fell in this category. More than two-thirds (67%) of all respondents stated that they were working with truant students. How- ever, 79% of the Malaysian teachers and 56% of the Basotho teachers indi- cated similar situations. Undoubtedly this is a greater problem in Malaysia because of school attendance requirements. There are fewer statistics on schools in Lesotho and the problem of truancy does not appear to be a major issue.
Responses from all teachers showed that 49% of them dealt with students who steal. Similar replies were seen from Malaysian teachers (60%) and Basotho teachers (58%). A major difference occurred in the 'None' category as 48% of the Malaysian teachers indicated that they did not have students who stole. Only 25% of the Basotho teachers reported a similar finding. In terms of teaching students who were loners, 26% of all respondents work with these students. However, a vast difference exists between the two groups with only 14% of Malaysian teachers but 38% of Basotho teachers indicating the existence of these children in their classrooms. The large class size in the schools in Lesotho with a ratio of 64:1 in 1990 (Sauvegeot, 1992) makes it difficult for teachers to attend to the concerns of individual students. In fact, one Masotho (one person living in Lesotho) teacher indicated in the final section of the questionnaire how difficult it was to 'face 60 pupils in Standards 5 and 6.' Because of smaller classes, Malaysian teachers may simply have more time to work with their more introverted students.
None of the Malaysian teachers but 28% of the Basotho teachers indicated that they had students who become pregnant. The impact of strong religious tenets in Malaysia certainly affects the lack of students who become pregnant (Z. Muhamed, personal communication, March, 1995). Teenage pregnancy in Southern Africa, while of great concern, is quite common and results in less ostracism as is seen in Eastern cultures (B. Makhakhame, personal com- munication, March, 1995).
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Emotional concerns Two questions were asked to determine if teachers were dealing with students with emotional difficulties. These included working with students who lacked interest in school and working with students who had personal concerns. Slightly more than two-thirds (67%) of all respondents indicated that they have students who lack interest in school. While 60% of the Malaysian teachers reported working with these students, the percent for the Basotho participants was even higher at 72%. A similar report was also found for teaching students with personal concerns with all respondents indicating a 59% rate, Malaysian teachers the same, and Basotho teachers a 60% rate. The lack of specialists in the school to deal with these student concerns must surely impact the high number of students with these problems.
Family issues To determine if teachers were dealing with students who come from homes where there are serious concerns, questions were asked regarding whether there were financial problems, strict parents or guardians, frequent fights or drinking at home. Of all respondents, 72% indicated that there were financial problems at home, but the difference between the two groups was significant with 62% of the Malaysian and 82% of the Basotho teachers stating that their students were facing this issue. A Masotho teacher wrote on the questionnaire, 'Children are very much interested in education but they fail to proceed because of poverty.' The results of the remaining family concerns were similar in that the greatest difficulties were seen in the Basotho homes. With regard to strict parents, 33% of Malaysian and 70% of Basotho teachers reported this difficulty. Frequent fights at home were noted by 34% of Malaysian and 50% of Basotho teachers. Drinking problems were reported by only 9% of the Malaysian teachers but by another alarming 50% of the Basotho teachers. With regard to drinking, again the impact of religion in Malaysia obviously affects the low percentage of difficulty here.
Health issues Questions were asked on health concerns in terms of AIDS, drug abuse and using traditional medicine. In all cases, the concerns were seen as difficult by many more Basotho than Malaysian teachers. With regard to AIDS, none of the Malaysian teachers saw this as a problem but 4% of the Basotho teachers did. Drug abuse was seen as an issue by 4% of the Malaysian teachers but 31% of the Basotho teachers indicated this was a concern. Using tradi- tional medicine was seen as an issue by 20% of the Malaysian and 54% of the Basotho teachers. While traditional healers are quite common in Southern Africa some students may be criticized because of their involvement with these persons.
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Career choice While there was no significant difference in the respondents' views' on career choice almost half of them indicated that this was a concern. Forty-five percent of all participants, 47% of Malaysian teachers and 44% of Basotho teachers stated that this was a difficult experienced by their students.
Coping ability
While the differences in the responses were not significant, all teachers (53%), Malaysian teachers (53%) and Basotho teachers (54%) indicated they had dif- ficulty dealing with slow learners. These results are not surprising especially for the Basotho teachers as training has just begun to assist teachers in under- standing the special issues with which these students are dealing (Education Sector Development Plan (1991/1992-1995/1996, 1992). A similar response was found in working with students who lack interest in school with 43% of all teachers, 40% of Malaysian, and 46% of Basotho teachers stating diffi- culty in teaching these students.
The percentages of teachers who had difficulty dealing with handicapped students, students with other physical difficulties, loners, and students with family financial problems were noted. With regard to handicapped students, 31% of all teachers, 22% of Malaysian, and 40% of Basotho teachers indi- cated difficulty here. Similar responses were seen in working with students with other physical difficulties with 31% of all teachers, 20% of Malaysian, and 41% of Basotho stating lack of success with these students.
A larger percent of Basotho teachers (44%) than Malaysian teachers (12%) indicated they had difficulty in working with loners. Basotho teachers also had more difficulty teaching students with family financial problems with 49% identifying this problem as compared to 32% of Malaysian teachers. A Masotho teacher noted on the questionnaire, 'Poverty victims lack concentration.'
Differences between Malaysian and Basotho teachers (p < 0.05) were seen in working with pregnant students, students with strict parents or guardians, students who experience frequent fights or drinking at home and students who use traditional medicine. Thirty percent of Basotho teachers indicated diffi- culty with students who become pregnant with 13 % of the Malaysian teachers making a similar response. With regard to family issues, both groups had difficulty dealing with students who had strict parents or guardians (Malaysian, 27%; Basotho, 26%) but 41% of the Basotho teachers as compared to 19% of the Malaysian teachers indicated that they were successful in dealing with these students. Difficulty in dealing with students who experience frequent fights at home is experienced by more Basotho teachers (30%) than Malaysian (13%). A similar response is seen in teaching students who come from homes where drinking occurs as 34% of Basotho teachers and 23% of Malaysian teachers expressed difficulty in dealing with these students. The smaller percent of Malaysian teachers is undoubtedly impacted by the strong religious
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tenets in Malaysia. A final difference is seen in dealing with students who use traditional medicine. Twenty-one percent of the Basotho teachers as compared to 15% of the Malaysian expressed difficulty in dealing with these students.
Teaching assistance requested
Pedagogy Respondents were asked to indicate their preference for assistance in six pedagogical areas, working with small groups, using aids in teaching, prepar- ing lesson plans, teaching more effectively, diagnosing learning programs, and handling remedial teaching. An overwhelming majority of Malaysian teachers (more than 90%) indicated their readiness to learn how to work in small groups, use teaching aids, prepare lesson plans, teach more effectively, and diagnose learning problems compared to Basotho teachers. As for remedial teaching, the number of Malaysian teachers indicating their willingness to learn this skill was 86%. Again, this percentage is higher than that of Basotho teachers at 70%.
Classroom management Teachers were asked to indicate their readiness to learn how to manage the classroom in four areas, class discipline, ordering materials, beautifying the classroom, and using community resources. The results of the chi-square test again indicate that a greater majority of Malaysian teachers (p < 0.01, ordering materials; p < 0.05, class discipline, beautifying the classroom, and using com- munity resources) were favorable to learning this particular area of profes- sional skill. Smaller percentages of Basotho teachers, 64 to 81%, indicated an interest in these areas.
Interpersonal relationships Three areas of interpersonal relationship were identified in this study: how to deal with parents, how to cope with problem children, and how to handle school leavers. Teachers from both countries seemed to agree that they needed more assistance in coping with their problem students. However, a comparison by country again showed that more Malaysian teachers (86%) than Basotho (71%) were interested in improving this skill. As for dealing with parents, the pattern of response for the two groups of teachers did not reveal that it was significant. Both groups of teachers were similar in their response to this particular concern (93%).
From this finding, it may therefore be concluded that Malaysian teachers have better opportunities to upgrade their professional skills as teachers. The difference may be attributed to the following reasons. In Malaysia, since the New Primary School Curriculum (NPSC) was introduced nationwide in 1983, teachers are expected to know how to work in small groups, diagnose learning problems, and to be able to acquire some skill in remedial teaching. Another
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feature in the Malaysian education scene is that teachers are subjected to evaluation of teaching by either their principals or master teacher (Yaakub, 1990).
Dealing with student concerns
Four different ways of handling students' concerns were given to respondents. The results showed significant differences in the responses of Malaysian and Basotho teachers at the 0.05 level in three areas. In order of priority, Malaysian teachers felt that students' problems should be solved first by outside repre- sentatives (92%), followed by referrals (86%), resource teachers (83%), and finally parents.
Just like Malaysian teachers, Basotho teachers also stated that outside representatives should be given the first priority to handle students' problems (70%). However, Basotho teachers though resource teachers were of second importance in dealing with students' concerns (65%). Third, Basotho teachers agreed that students having problems should be referred to another expert (60%). Similar to the Malaysian finding, Basotho teachers gave very low importance to parents handling their children's problems with only a small percentage (7%) indicating this source.
Conclusion
In the results of this study it is shown that teachers in Lesotho were dealing with larger numbers of special needs students than were teachers in Malaysia. Basotho teachers were teaching more students with physical, cognitive, family- related, and social problems as well as health concerns including AIDS, drug abuse and using traditional medicine. On the other hand, Malaysian teachers seemed to be facing students with mainly two social problems, namely stealing and truancy.
In view of this finding, it is therefore not surprising to find Basotho teachers admitting having more difficulty in dealing with special needs students than were those in Malaysia. However, the findings indicated Malaysian teachers reacted more positively to improving or upgrading their professional skills perhaps in part because more opportunities are available (Yaakub, 1990). A larger number of Malaysian teachers indicated their willingness to upgrade their pedagogical and classroom management skills, as well as to improve their relationships with students and parents. In light of this finding, the authors believe that to a certain extent one of the aims of the in-service program in Malaysia, to enhance the commitment and motivations of tenured teachers, is achieved. Finally, there seems to be some variation in the opinion of these two groups of teachers as to who should resolve students' problems. The difference in the opinion may be related to the understanding these teachers have of each of the groups presented as service providers.
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Several limitations are found in this study and comprise recommendations for further research. A number of important groups in each country were not included in this study such as students, secondary teachers, parents, school administrators and persons in the community such as business and industry personnel. Information from each of these groups would be important in guidance and counselling development in each country.
However, the similarities and differences in the perceptions of the teachers surveyed are clear indications of the direction and importance of counselling and guidance in both nations. It is the hope of these authors that the devel- opment of these programs will continue to increase at a rapid pace.
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