A few decades ago, agriculture was not as we know it today. Our forefathers used cutlasses, hoes, and animals to cultivate their farms. The world has changed and is still evolving, the mechanized farming and improved crops we are seeing today as a new technology will soon become traditional and obsolete. The world has gone far, people are now talking about vertical farms, the use of drones and robots, crop sensors, automation in agriculture, and so on.
It’s so obvious that we don’t need anybody to tell us the world has changed, and we too need to change. The educational system we are using today, I can tell you from my experience as a teacher, is not preparing us for the future anymore. Imagine a computer science student still learning about obsolete programming languages. Because of this, a lot of graduates are either unemployed or underemployed.
According to the Nigerian Graduate Report research done by the Stutern team in 2022 and I quote “While the numbers for full-time employed graduates has risen to a solid 31.9%, we still find that the level of unemployment sits at a staggering 41%. This implies that nearly half the number of graduates remain unemployed”.
Even though we still use outdated curricula, parents still trust our educational system (perhaps they don’t have a choice). According to an article by Vanguard in 2019, “Nigeria’s 308-degree awarding institutions (134 polytechnics and 174 universities) have an enrolment population of about 2m and produce about 600,000 graduates yearly”.
In the year 2014, the then minister for finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was quoted to have said no fewer than 1.8 million graduates in the country move into the labour market every year.
If you look at the number of people getting admission yearly, studying the same cause that you studied, and planning to get out to the labour market and join the queue, then you can conclude that something is wrong. Something is missing along the line, and that thing is a lack of skills.
When people hear skills, what comes to their mind sometimes is menial jobs, well those are also skills, but skills are not limited to those. A skill, as defined by yourdictionary.com, is a great ability or proficiency; expertness that comes from training, practice, etc. It can also be defined as knowledge, understanding, or judgment. Skills are classified into soft and hard skills. Hard skills have to do with what you can do with your hands, while soft skills are not necessarily what you can do with your hands, even your attitude can be your soft skill in some instances.
If there are thousands of you looking for the same job, in a system where connection matters a lot, then you have no choice as a graduate or a youth but to develop and master a skill that will differentiate you from the rest.
Let’s imagine this scenario: you and your friend studied computer science in school. You both graduated with the same grade. You’re both good academically. Then you started searching for a job in the tech industry. Your friend has equipped himself with programming and problem-solving skills, while you focused on handouts and boring notes only. Assuming both of you have no legs (as you used to say), who do you think will be employed by a reputable company? The difference is clear.
Skills are not only useful in employment, they can be used as side hustles. With skills, you can start your own business. A trader is skillful in buying, selling, and accounting. A bricklayer is skillful in building. A video editor is skillful. Skills are many, ranging from public speaking, good English command, management, therapy, negotiation, marketing, sales, video editing, content writing, fashion design, programming, technical writing, initiatives, problem-solving, critical thinking, innovations, are all examples of valuable skills.
Some skills are more marketable than others, however, what matters most is your willingness to learn and implement. Some skills are learnable without being physically present, that is through virtual or online learning platforms. Another important thing is when you learn a skill, be so good at it that they can’t ignore you, and learn how to market and package yourself.
Skills are not just mainly for unemployed graduates, I don’t know about other places, but I think it’s a common practice in Nigeria that government employees don’t care much about improving themselves there by not learning new skills to stay relevant in their industry. In some places, it’s either you continue learning or you perish.
In summary, you need skills because technology is taking over, to stand out in the job market, to improve yourself, to earn an income, to boost your career, and personal growth, and to prepare for the future. A skill can pay you more than anything. Some companies are now working with freelancers instead of hiring employees, and what they care about is the skill, not just the degree ( this is the current trend among many small business and start-up owners).
What skills are you excited to learn? Share in the comments! Let’s inspire each other to keep growing and learning.
Want to learn Transcription
great