Maltese students to participate in global championship to become Microsoft Office Specialists

The Microsoft Innovation Centre is for the first time helping Malta participate in a global Microsoft Office Championship, a competition which last year attracted over 600,000 unique candidates from over 80 countries who compete to demonstrate their mastery of Microsoft Office products namely Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

The Microsoft Innovation Centre is now a Certiport Authorised Testing Centre for MOS (Microsoft Office Specialist exams), promoting training in MS Office 365 products and now being able to offer official MS exams on Malta.

The Microsoft Office Championship, organised by Certiadria and supported by Microsoft, SG Solutions and the eSkills Foundation Malta, is regarded as a prime vehicle for the promotion of Digital Literacy in Malta. Any student enrolled in any academic institution, from secondary to high school or university, within the ages of 13 to 22 can participate.

Addressing the launch of the Microsoft Office Championship at the Microsoft Innovation Centre, Mary Downing, Manager of the MIC stated that Microsoft’s support to this competition stems from its commitment to inspire innovation on the island.

“We are effectively dealing with a widening gap between being digitally native and being digitally literate. Today’s younger generation is very digitally savvy but it is increasingly lacking the digital literacy capabilities to access the working place. Being a Microsoft Office Specialist can help anyone in his or her’s career prospects and in a world that is opening up, this is a great qualification to have because it enjoys international recognition on a global level. Obtaining the Microsoft Office Specialist qualification will expose all students to the advantages of becoming more digitally literate,” said Mary Downing.

Carm Cachia from eSkills Foundation said “industry certification is one of the main pillars in any digitaly literacy strategy. Microsoft is a leading player in digital literacy and using its tools to teach literacy to our students is a great step forward in bringing the industry closer to education.”

All students interested in participating in this championship may visit the official website www.moschampionship.mt and apply to sit for any or the three certifications. Participants will have the opportunity to demonstrate their skills regarding Microsoft’s Office Specialist Word 2016, Microsoft Office Specialist Excel 2016 and Microsoft Office Specialist PowerPoint 2016.

The Microsoft Innovation Centre is a Microsoft Authorised Testing Centre for MOS (Microsoft Office Specialist exams) promot- ing training in MS products and now being able to take an official MS exam. This is a worldwide recognised qualification by Microsoft in answer to industry requested skills.