The Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Is-haq Oloyede, said university degrees should no longer be the sole guarantor of jobs in today’s information age.
The JAMB boss said emphasis should also be placed on demonstrable skills.
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”.
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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.
“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 said.
“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,” he added.
The acting vice chancellor of KWASU, Professor Shaykh-Luqman Jimoh, said people live in an era of unprecedented technological advancements.