The Nigerians government has announced a partnership with Coursera, the U.S.-based massive open online course provider that works with universities and other organizations to offer online courses, certifications, and degrees in a variety of subjects.
– Key points to note
The partnership offers scholarships that will enable Nigerians get jobs in the digital economy.
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) said it was part of the federal government’s commitment to create 1 million jobs in the digital economy. The announcement was posted May 31.
It invites applications from Nigerians for scholarships to enrol in one of 19 professional certification programmes. Applications close on June 14.
“NITDA has partnered with Coursera to offer learning scholarships that will enable Nigerian citizens to obtain professional certifications from some of the world’s leading multinational tech companies (e.g. Meta, Google, IBM) and top ranked US universities,” the agency said.
The course starts on June 19 and will run for six months.
The 19 programmes, offered by Google, IBM, and Meta are:
- Front-End Developer
- Back-End Developer
- iOS Developer
- Android Developer
- User Experience (UX) Specialist
- Cloud Computing Professional
- Data Engineer
- Data Science Professional
- Data Analytics Professional
- IT Support Specialist
- Cybersecurity Professional
- DevOps Engineer
- Social Media Marketing Specialist
- Digital Marketing & E-Commerce
- Machine Learning Practitioner System
- Game Designer
- Game Programmer
- Software Testing and Automation Professional
- Artificial Intelligence Practitioner
– Learn more
Coursera courses typically cost from $39 to hundreds of dollars. Some degree-awarding programmes can cost thousands of dollars. The government’s recommended courses are not degree-awarding since they run for only six months.
Applicants are to select one certification programme each from Category A and Category B that they wish to be enrolled in.
Category A is the IT career pathway above, while the second category is complementary skills pathway that offers four certification programmes.
Coursera was founded in 2012 by Stanford University computer science professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller. Its competitors include Udemy, Udacity and EdX.
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