The Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede, has said that university degrees should no longer be the sole guarantor of jobs in today’s information age.
Rather, the JAMB boss said emphasis and focus should also be placed on demonstrable skills which are now essential. He spoke at Malete, Kwara State, on Thursday while delivering the Kwara State University (KWASU) convocation lecture on Thursday.
The lecture was titled “Learning, Unlearning, and Relearning – Prerequisites of the Digital Age”.
Oloyede, a Professor of Islamics, charged Nigerians to prepare for the challenges of the information age by taking lifelong learning seriously and being willing to change as circumstances unfold.
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He emphasised that “learning is useless without practice,” adding that “relearning is the ability to acquire new skills, knowledge, and perspectives quickly and effectively”.
“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”, he added.
He said 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, and fuel attendants, among others, are on the verge of extinction.
“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.”
Professor Oloyede advised the institution graduates to remember that learning, unlearning, and relearning are the compasses that will guide them in the uncharted territories of the Digital Age.
“Your ability to embrace these principles will set you apart and empower you to navigate the challenges and seize the opportunities of our rapidly changing world.”
In his speech, the acting vice-chancellor of KWASU, Professor Shaykh-Luqman Jimoh, said that people live in an era of unprecedented technological advancements.
He noted that the nation’s educational institutions must become catalysts for transformation, preparing graduates not just for the challenges of today but for the rapidly evolving landscape of the digital age.
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