New Horizons sponsors Nigerian kids to Microsoft Worldwide competition

IN a bid to promote IT education and certification in Nigeria and as part of its strategic thrust to repositioning Nigeria using the instrumentality of ICT, New Horizons has sponsored two students who emerged National winners in the 2013 Certiport Microsoft Specialist and Adobe Certified Associate competitions held in Lagos.

The students represented Nigeria and their schools on an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C USA for the Worldwide Championship.

They will join other National champions from 120 countries in Europe, America and Asia from July 31st-August 3rd, 2013 courtesy of New Horizons. This will be the 5th time in the last four year when the company will sponsor participation of Nigerian kids in International competition.

The students are Master Ejidele Inioluwa Morakinyo, who was the national winner of Adobe Certified Associate competition from Doregos Private Academy and Miss. Akintilo Naomi Mopelola the national winner of Microsoft Office Specialist competition from Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls.

On a yearly basis, New Horizons Nigeria organises the National Certiport competitions and sponsors the winners on an all-expense paid trip to the USA to compete with the other over 300,000 national champions from over 120 countries. This is the first time Adobe Certified Associate worldwide competition is organised and a Nigerian student participated in the debut edition.

The competition started in October 2012 and students from various schools across the country competed in the competition, which also qualified them as Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) and Adobe Certified Associate (ACA).  The Top 20 finalists with the highest scores in the International Certification Examinations were selected to compete for privilege to represent Nigeria in Washington D.C. USA.

Six students amongst the 400 participants emerged first, second and third in Microsoft Office Specialist and Adobe Certified Associate categories following a hectic online real-time examination and project based work conducted at the head quarters of New Horizons Computer Systems Limited, the Top IT training institution in the country on behalf Certiport. Certiport, a Pearson VUE business, is the leading provider of certification exam development, delivery and programme management.

As part of our contribution this year, New Horizons gave over 100 students scholarship on training and paid for their international examination voucher for the students to be able to participate in competition and increase the number of participants from Nigeria. 

In Pakistan and their neighbouring countries use to record over twenty thousand participants every year which we hope that Nigeria can attain this feat in the next five years to record Ten thousand participants. We encourage schools and parents to allow their wards to participate in the next year’s competition.