The Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede, has emphasized the importance of acquiring practical skills for Nigerian youths to secure employment opportunities.
Delivering the convocation
lecture titled “Learning, Unlearning, and Relearning – Prerequisites of the
Digital Age” at the Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete, on Thursday,
Professor Oloyede urged Nigerians to prepare for the challenges of the Information
Age by taking lifelong learning seriously and being willing to change as
circumstances unfold.
He cautioned that university
degrees will no longer be the sole determinants of job prospects, but
individuals with demonstrable skills will have an advantage.
He said: “For all, the imperative of learning, relearning, and unlearning cannot be overemphasized as the tonic that gives vitality to successful living in today’s Information Age. Those who can learn, relearn, and unlearn are the successful ones, and those without the mindset that accommodates the triad are bound to perpetually lament.
“The world today is totally
different from the world inhabited by our forebears. One of the factors
responsible for this change is the totality of what makes the Information Age,
which is still evolving as technology develops rapidly.
“The changes in the world
provide new opportunities and threats. While there are new opportunities in
Information Technology, existing jobs such as typists, receptionists,
traditional printers, telephone booth operators, computer operators, factory
workers, cashiers, travel agents, fuel attendants, among others, are on the verge
of extinction.
“New opportunities will emerge
in the high-tech sector, and many skills that were not otherwise taught in
traditional schools will be needed. Degrees would no longer be sole guarantors
of jobs, but demonstrable skills will.
“In this regard, there won’t be
any difference between those who are literate and those who are illiterate
without the cutting-edge skills associated with learning, relearning, and
unlearning.
“Therefore, the onus of the
responsibility lies on everyone to get prepared for the challenges of the
Information Age by taking lifelong learning seriously and being willing to
change as circumstances unfold.”
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