ReadManna Rewards MOS Champions

Uchechukwu Nnaike ReadManna Ventures Limited, an ICT firm, has rewarded winners of the 2014 Certiport Microsoft Office Specialist National Championship for Students, among them was Miss Olubunmi Agusto, a student of Day Waterman College, Abeokuta, Ogun State, who became the first African to emerge among the top three finalists since the competition began 13 years ago.

Agusto and Adonijah Airede of Regent School, Abuja represented Nigeria in last year’s Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship held in Disneyland, California, USA in July; she set the record by emerging second in Microsoft Word 2007.

Her hard work earned her a cash prize of $2,500 from the organisers of the competition, and an additional $500 from the chairman of the occasion, Mr. Fola Adeola, the Chairman, Main One Cable Company. With a score of 967 out of 1,000 completed in 953 seconds to emerge the national winner in Word 2007, Agusto received a laptop computer, a printer and a plaque, while the first and second runners-up got a laptop computer and plaque each.

In Excel 2007, Abdulrazak Murtala of Thomas Adewumi International College, Oko, Kwara State emerged winner with a score of 923 in 1,027 seconds, he got a laptop, printer and a plaque, while the first and second runners-up got a laptop and plaque each.

For PowerPoint 2007, Inyene Akpabio of Kith and Kin Educational Centre, Lagos emerged winner with a score of 867, completed in 2,166 seconds. Akpabio also got a laptop, printer and a plaque. The same prizes were also presented to winners in PowerPoint, Excel and Word 2010.

The Managing Director of ReadManna, Mrs. Edna Agusto, said the company conducts the Certiport Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship for students annually in Nigeria, adding that the competition challenges students to demonstrate their proficiency in the use of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel.

“This competition is open to all students aged between 13 and 22 years, provided they show proof of enrolment at an academic institution. National winners are eligible to participate in the world championship.”

She said the objective of the competition is to encourage schools to include the acquisition of commonly used desktop productivity tools aligned to global standards in their curriculum which would provide the students with the computing expertise they need now and when they graduate.

“A survey of the unemployed graduates reveals that some of our graduates are ill equipped in this area to cope with the current demand of businesses they aspire to work with. Therefore it is imperative that students be introduced to the importance of being proficient in the use of Microsoft Office used by most businesses worldwide.”

According to her, the 2014 national MOS competition on Word, Excel and PowerPoint (versions 2007 and 2010) was held over a period of seven months between November 1, 2013 and May 16, 2014. “It ended with 208 entries from 15 Secondary Schools from Lagos, Ogun, Edo, Kwara States and the FCT. Seventy-six students were shortlisted for the final live competition which took place in Abuja and Lagos on May 20 and 23, 2014 respectively and the top three winners emerged in six categories at the end of the retake sessions.”

Agusto said the 2015 championship would cover versions 2010 and 2013 of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, adding that schools are required to conduct the examinations before May 28, 2015 and submit their scores to the company.

“The students with the highest scores and lowest examination taking times at the end of the competition will be invited for the retake examinations to be held in Abuja and Lagos in June 2015.

“The top three scorers of all six examinations will get a Microsoft XBOX One with games and the national winners will be invited to represent Nigeria at the 2015 world championship to be held in Dallas, Texas, USA in August 2015.” She advised schools to visit www.readmanna.net for detailed syllabus of the championship.