Teachers’ perception of Relevance and Necessity of Guru Penggerak Program in Upstream Area of West Kalimantan

Abstract

This study aims to investigate teachers’ perceptions of the relevance and necessity of the Guru Penggerak  Program in addressing school challenges and enhancing teaching practices in upstream areas of West Kalimantan. Using a quantitative survey approach, data were collected from 117 teachers across 16 schools in Kapuas Hulu, Sanggau, Melawi, and Sintang, with 14 of them being Guru Penggerak  participants. The findings revealed that the average perception score for relevance was 3.18, and for necessity was 3.04, indicating moderately positive perceptions. Further analysis using the Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests showed no significant differences in perceptions based on gender, subject taught, participation in the program, or school level. However, significant differences were found across districts. Teachers in Melawi and Kapuas Hulu demonstrated higher perceptions of both relevance and necessity compared to those in Sanggau. The study concludes that while the Guru Penggerak  Program is generally perceived as relevant and necessary, its implementation impact varies across regions, suggesting the need for context-sensitive policies and support in rural educational settings.

Keywords: teachers’ perception, Guru Penggerak  Program, relevance, necessity, upstream schools.