The Role of Teacher Certification in Increasing Access to Hajj and Umrah: A Case Study for State High School Teachers in the City of Pekalongan

Abstract

This study aims to examine the Effect of teacher certification allowances on access to Hajj and Umrah among Islamic Religious Education (IRE) teachers in public high schools in Pekalongan City. Although teacher certification has been implemented as a policy to improve professionalism, IRE teachers’ involvement in planning religious observances remains low, and the use of digital media to manage them is limited. This research gap stems from the lack of an integrative analysis that links certification allowances, technology-based religious observance management practices, and the role of PAI teachers in strengthening spirituality through learning media. The study used a quantitative design, with a population of 181 Muslim teachers and a purposive sample of 29 certified teachers who had performed Hajj and/or Umrah. Data were collected via an online questionnaire and analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The results indicate that certification allowances have a highly significant effect on access to Hajj and Umrah, with a path coefficient (?) of 0.95 and a t-value of 12.34 (p < 0.001). The average difference in financial preparedness between certified and uncertified teachers reached 1.42 on a 5-point Likert scale (p < 0.01), highlighting the positive impact of allowances on religious worship planning. This research’s contribution includes expanding the discourse on Islamic Religious Education (IRE) teacher welfare to encompass not only professional but also religious and technological dimensions, and integrating digital worship management as a theoretical innovation. In practice, these findings emphasise the importance of certification allowance policies, coupled with digital literacy programs and spiritual mentoring, in improving the quality of Islamic Religious Education (IRE) learning and access to religious worship. Recommended policy implications include integrating education policies and Hajj management with targeted digital technology support to support teachers’ religious mobility while strengthening their involvement in modern Islamic religious education.