AMALAN KEPIMPINAN FUTURISTIC DALAM KALANGAN PENGETUA SEKOLAH MENENGAH KEBANGSAAN AGAMA ZON TIMUR SEMENANJUNG MALAYSIA

Abstract

Malaysia’s Ministry of Education now expects every principal to serve as a future-ready change leader, embedding creativity, digital dexterity, and ethics in alignment with the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013–2025. However, leaders of National Religious Secondary Schools (SMKA) on the East Coast, i.e., Kelantan, Terengganu, and Pahang, face additional challenges, including rural–urban disparities, increasing enrolment, and the dual responsibility of preserving Islamic values while integrating Education 4.0 technologies. Recent studies indicate that SMKA principals continue to prioritise routine administrative tasks over forward-looking initiatives, limiting both teachers’ use of ICT and students’ acquisition of 21st-century skills. These gaps reinforce the urgent call for a futuristic leadership model. This study investigates the current level of futuristic leadership practices among SMKA principals in Kelantan, Terengganu, and Pahang. Employing a survey research design, 300 teachers from 14 SMKAs completed the Futuristic Leadership Practices Scale (FLPS), adapted from Saiful Adli Abd Rahim et al.’s (2022) study. The instrument measures seven domains: professional futuristic leadership, cultivation of a collaborative culture, self-competency development, creation of a conducive school environment, enrichment through school data, stakeholder engagement, and respect for diversity. Descriptive statistics were used to assess the effectiveness of these leadership practices and to profile respondents. Findings indicate that the overall level of futuristic leadership among SMKA principals was high, as evidenced by a mean score exceeding 3.50 across all domains. These results support the Ministry of Education’s ongoing shift toward competency-based principal preparation. It is recommended that NPQEL 2.0 incorporate digital innovation labs and data analytics modules specifically tailored for SMKA leadership. In the East Coast context, structured mentoring networks pairing high-performing Terengganu principals with their counterparts in Kelantan and Pahang may facilitate the diffusion of effective practices while safeguarding the schools’ Islamic identity. At the national level, embedding Society 5.0 value-integration models into leadership standards could help reconcile religious faith, ethical values, and future-oriented transformation in Malaysia’s religious secondary school sector.