School as Factory Prep: Integration of Conflict Theory and Syed Naquib Al-Attas's Ta'dib Theory on the Degradation of Educational Mission in Era 4.0 at Malaysia

Abstract

Modern school models oriented toward factory prep increasingly position students as commodities prepared to meet labor market needs. In the perspective of Conflict Theory, this orientation reflects the latent function of education as a tool for reproducing capitalist structures that benefit dominant groups. This pattern causes the loss of education's essential mission to form human beings holistically. Conversely, the concept of ta'dib developed by Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas affirms that education must shape adab, personality, and self-awareness of humans as rational and moral beings. The tension between these two paradigms becomes an important basis for analysis. This community service article aims to examine how the orientation of schools as factory prep eliminates the essential mission of education, and to analyze the critical integration between Conflict Theory and al-Attas's ta'dib theory as a conceptual offering to restore the direction of education toward the formation of whole human beings in Malaysia. The research employs a qualitative approach with library research method. Critical theory sources, modern educational literature, and al-Attas's works were analyzed through content analysis techniques to find meeting points and points of critique between the two perspectives. The findings reveal that the factory prep paradigm positions students as potential labor and neglects moral, spiritual, and intellectual dimensions. From the perspective of Conflict Theory, this constitutes a form of social inequality reproduction through schools. Conversely, analysis of al-Attas's ta'dib theory affirms that the loss of adab is the root of the contemporary educational crisis. The integration of both theories reveals that the narrowing of education's mission occurs due to the dominance of capitalist values and the loss of orientation toward the formation of civilized human beings. This community service activity was conducted at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, demonstrating the importance of integrating critical social theory with Islamic educational philosophy in addressing contemporary educational challenges in Malaysia.