Investigating the Impact of Teaching and Learning of Religious Institution [pondok] on the Society in Kelantan, Malaysia

The religious learning institution [pondok] is a common form of traditional Islamic educational institution in the archipelagic areas of Malaysia, Indonesia, and southern Thailand. It has been widely known and established, especially in Kelantan, Malaysia, for many years. It is regarded as a significant learning institution since it focuses on lifelong learning concepts. However, there are some crises faced by learners who study at a pondok. These need to be addressed as the learning institution receives negative perceptions from society in general. This study aimed to analyse the perception of the role of religious learning institutions and how this contributes to spreading knowledge so that society can get a better understanding of the concept of learning in a pondok. This study uses both quantitative and qualitative methods; questionnaires were distributed and focus group discussions were conducted among selected research participants. There were 121 research participants for the quantitative studies and five groups for the qualitative study. This study used a purposive sampling method and the participants were selected according to whether they were willing to support the development of the pondok and whether they had experience living near a religious institution. The study revealed that the pondok requires a lot of improvements, especially in spreading religious knowledge and having a good relationship with society. It is also suggested that a proper guideline be provided for every religious learning institution in Kelantan so that it becomes more systematic. It was revealed that the potential of the pondok is to ensure that society gains benefits from these religious institutions. The significance of the current study lies in its analysis of the quality of teaching and learning in religious institutions so that they meet international educational qualification standards.