Many varsities churn out graduates that can't measure up to standard - UNILORIN VC

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The Vice Chancellor of University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) Professor Wahab Egbewole has lamented that many graduates from the nation’s universities have failed to meet up and compete favourably in the labour market.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria noted that a lot of incalculable damage had been done to attaining quality education in Nigeria such that a total overhaul of the system is now urgently required to put the rot in order.

Egbewole spoke on Thursday, while giving a convocation lecture, titled, ‘Learning is Schooling Plus’ at the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) declaring that a good number of graduates are displaying certificates they either can not defend, or match with character and creativity

He stressed the need to stop confusing teaching with learning, saying years of wrong indoctrination to believing the notion that only schools can offer education, and that skills and knowledge acquisition are only reliable if it is done formally in a traditional school setting.

According to him, “The goal of education should be to generate compassionate and creative students who will contribute to the development and maintenance of a just society.

“Some of our educational institutions have produced graduates who compare favourably with their peers in other parts of the world and are making waves, but it is also true that they have produced graduates who have not measured up to standard.

“We are familiar with the stories of graduates who allegedly are unable to write ordinary application letters for unemployment.”

He further said, “There are also instances where some are unable to identify the core issues in the courses they studied, talk less of explaining them.

“There are also cases of graduates who are so educationally vapid, to the extent that they are adjudged not to be trainable, and therefore, not employable.”

Egbewole called for the reinvention of Nigeria’s school curriculum, as part of the solutions to rejuvenating standards in the nation’s education system.

Speaking, the vice chancellor of FUOYE, Professor Abayomi Fasina, commended the convocation lecturer, ” for his well-researched lecture for the advancement of the nation’s education system.”

Represented by the DVC Administration, Professor Shola Omotola, said recommendations and conclusions from the lecture should be made public for stakeholders towards revamping the sector.

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