Summary

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Ilongo Fritz Ngale is a Senior Lecturer in Educational Psychology and Guidance and Counselling with the University of Eswatini. His research interests include: philosophies of education, workplace bullying, dispute management, and conflict resolution, gender-based violence, and African counseling approaches.

Epilogue
Tertiary Education and Human Capital Development: 21′ Century Challenges and Opportunities for African Countries is Doctor Ilongo’s insightful contribution to an ongoing discourse/discussion on development in the world today. The book presents human capital as a conditio sine qua non for any true development and argues that tertiary institutions have a critical role to play in the development of such a capital.

The author goes on to point out that when developing human capital, one very important and crucial factor to be considered is character development. That is the character that we want those that undergo training by our tertiary institutions to acquire and reflect in their personality. To illustrate his point on the idea of holistic education, the author goes on to give an example of a traditional rite of passage that is a form of a holistic education that some of the Southern African traditional communities give to their adolescents in order to prepare them to be productive and useful members of their communities as adults. This is called lebollo (initiation). The author attributes the lebollo’s success to the following core elements of the lebollo curriculum: patriotism, national unity and love of neighbors, self-reliance, national defense, family studies, and meaningful contribution to one’s society.

I have no doubt in my mind that this (once it is out there) is going to be a must-have book for both tertiary institutions students and policymakers at such institutions as well as at the government level if the youth are to be equipped with the skills and character development they need for their survival in the 21st-century world of work.

Prof F.C.L. Rakotsoane Dean, Faculty of Humanities University of Eswatini Eswatini