A competition titled ‘Certiport Microsoft Office 2007 challenge for the unemployed graduate', is being organised by ReadManna Ventures Ltd to certify unemployed graduates who have the proficiency required in a business environment.
Edna Agusto, ReadManna's managing director, said Nigerians who are Microsoft Office programs certified, stand a better chance of gaining employment or managing their own businesses.
"In the business world, people seeking employment must have a good understanding of Microsoft Office programs comprising Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Access and Outlook. And employers of labour seek to hire certified individuals to improve their existing workforce," Mrs Agusto said.
She said the nationwide competition, opened to unemployed graduates below the age of 30, will be based on the Microsoft Word 2007, Microsoft Excel 2007 and Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 programs.
She said besides cash prizes, 100 finalists at the competition, which started on Oct. 1, 2009 and ends on Feb. 26, 2010, will be interviewed by leading Nigerian companies at a Microsoft Office job fair in Lagos.
Prospective workers
Looking forward to the job fair is the Managing Director of KarRox Technologies Limited, Sunil Dhanuka, who said at least five finalists will be employed by his company. KarRox Technologies is an information technology training company.
"As far as Microsoft certification is concerned, we all know that anywhere there is a computer and an organisation, they require Microsoft application knowledge. It is easier for job seekers to get jobs if they are computer-literate based on what they can actually achieve on the computer. And Microsoft application will be the foremost thing that can give them jobs faster, Mr. Dhanuka said.
Also, Fate Foundation's Head of Training, Elizabeth Olofin, said besides cash prizes, the first three winners of the competition will be given scholarships to build entrepreneurship skills through a four-month programme. Fate Foundation, a non-profit organisation, fosters the growth of businesses in Nigeria.
"We expect the winners to be graduates and they should have business ideas. What the Fate Aspiring Entrepreneurs Program does is to give them the pedigree to pursue those ideas," Mrs Olofin said.
Eligibility
To participate, competitors must buy vouchers to take online tests for each software (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) at designated testing centres all over Nigeria and register their scores. The top 500 contestants will be short-listed and will retake the test at the same time. The contestant with the best aggregate score wins ₦1million; second, ₦500,000; third, ₦250,000 and the next best 10 scores would get ₦100,000 each.
"Each voucher costs ₦5,000 per software, amounting to ₦15,000 for the three software. These three make a complete package because in an office environment you find that people use these three the most. All information can be found at www.readmanna.net," Mrs Agusto said.
But Tope Obayomi, a computer studies instructor at the Nigeria Opportunities Industrialisation Centre in Gbagada, asked that competition costs be reduced so that unemployed graduates could benefit.
"The competition is a welcome idea. But I think ₦15,000 is too much. Where do they expect someone who is unemployed to get that kind of money? If they can't do it free, they should at least reduce it to ₦2,000 for each of the software," Mr Obayomi said.
Responding on the cost of the vouchers, Mrs. Agusto explained that ReadManna had secured a discount as against the original cost people in other countries paid to take the tests.
"The standard international voucher for each software is $75 (over N11,000) at an exchange rate of N150 to $1. We (ReadManna) said this is too much for Nigerians to pay and negotiated for N5,000 (about $33). And this price is only for this competition. Once over, it goes back to the $75 per software. It is important people understand this," Mrs Agusto said.
ReadManna is the authorised representative of Certiport Inc. in Nigeria, while Certiport is the creator and worldwide distributor of the Microsoft Office Specialist program. It is also responsible for the development, marketing, and administration of certification programs for Microsoft Office products.
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