Developing Excellent and Competitive Human Resources in Education: Concepts, Strategies, Challenges, and Implementation in the Indonesian Context

Abstract

This study explores the strategic development of excellent and competitive human resources (HR) in Indonesia’s education sector. The paper integrates the Human Capital Theory and Islamic Educational Values to formulate a holistic conceptual model for improving teacher competence, professionalism, and institutional competitiveness. Adopting a qualitative descriptive approach, the study synthesizes scholarly research and policy documents published between 2018 and 2025. The findings indicate that superior human resources in education must embody three integrated dimensions: intellectual competence, professional capability, and spiritual integrity. Strategic approaches include professional training, innovation-based leadership, digital transformation, and moral-spiritual education. A conceptual framework is presented to show how Human Capital Development, Islamic Educational Values, and Educational Competitiveness intersect to produce excellent educational human resources that can sustain global competitiveness while maintaining ethical integrity.