President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday charged all the educational institutions in the country to address the falling quality of graduates produced by Nigerian universities.
Jonathan, who gave the charge in his speech at the 26th convocation ceremony of the University of Ilorin, noted that the development had led to unemployment as graduating students were not adequately prepared for life after school.
The president noted that as a first step towards tackling the problem, the Federal Government recently held an educational summit with a view to providing a permanent solution to the degeneration in standards.
He explained that the government was not unmindful of the fact that universities remain a major catalyst for development, adding that the government would continue to invest in training, re-training and researches in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
The President, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Professor Oladapo Afolabi, assured that the Federal Government would continue to support universities to produce graduates that were employable.
He further said the Federal Government would pay adequate attention to the welfare of all those who were involved in the development of the Nigerian youth.
In his address, the Kwara State Governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki, who was represented by his deputy, Chief Joel Ogundeji, charged the graduating students to remain focused and make good use of the education they had received.
He commended Unilorin for making positive contributions to the growth of the society and upholding high standards in education.
Saraki advised the graduates to embrace entrepreneurship, contending that the era of waiting for white collar jobs was gone.
Earlier, the Vice Chancellor , Professor Is-haq Oloyede, had said that 16 students of the University of Ilorin finished with a first class degree while 690 students graduated in the Second Class, Upper Division.
He added that the 2009/2010 session also witnessed 2, 504 students graduating in the Second Class Lower Division, 1, 270 in the Third Class division and 189 passes.
According to Oloyede, out of the 16 with first class degrees, 12 emerged from the Faculty of Science, two from education, one from communication and information sciences, one from business and social sciences while three were from the Faculty of Agriculture.
Source:http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201010252133256
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