Ten Years of Education Waqf (2008-2018): A Content Analysis of News Coverage in Two Malaysia Mainstream Newspapers

Abstract

Muslim world has long been supported by waqf system to sustain its social and economic needs, including in the realm of education. As a Muslim country, education waqf has been part of Malaysian education history since before Independence and philanthropic calls were continuously made by various groups in the society including politicians, educationists and economists. It is seen as a mean to overcome the challenge of increasing education expenditure and simultaneously fulfilling Muslims’ demands for Islamic education. Due to this development, education waqf has gained more coverage in the local news media. This paper uses the method of content analysis to collect data in terms of quantity of coverage and then code the topics or issues of education waqf covered by the stories in a thematic analysis. The result shows significant increase in coverage of the stories in 10 years (2008-2018) and determines the most frequent topics pertaining to education waqf in Malaysia during that period. It is found that the most recurring topics raised in the news stories were about waqf for higher learning and religious educational institutions. Another topic that gained significant interest of the media is waqf efforts by Malaysian organizations in other Muslim countries. The paper also attempts to compare between issues raised by the news media with latest scholarly bibliographies and obtains the current dynamics between what are being circulated among the public, with what are being investigated within the academia.