COHORT 3 PROFESSIONAL COURSES BEGINS AS NITDA, COURSERA PROCESS APPLICATIONS

"Partnering with Coursera will give Nigerian learners access to Coursera’s Professional Certificates portfolio, which are designed to empower learners to gain the skills necessary to pass an industry certification exam or launch a career in a specific field, such as IT support within three months." NITDA

The National Information Technology Development Agency NITDA has, in partnership with Coursera, commenced the commencement of the process for receiving applications from interested Nigerians who wish to apply for the Cohort 3 of Coursera courses.  

This is in line with the Agency’s drive to implement the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to create one million digital jobs in the Information Technology sector, a statement from the Agency's Head of Corporate Affairs and External Relations, Mrs Hadiza Umar, fnipr, f.apra and made available to journalists on Tuesday in Abuja, the nation's capital reveals.

Recall that NITDA and Coursera on October 19, 2022 launched a partnership to help combat high rates of youth unemployment, which stood at 19.6% in 2021, with both parties intend to train 8000 Nigerian learners annually in a cohort of 4000 learners each for the total of 24,000 in 3 years. 

Coursera provides NITDA’s selected learners with access to world-class educational contents from top universities and industry leaders - including Yale, Meta, Google, and IBM. Coursera will support the Nigerian government in improving the technical capabilities of the country’s youths and develop Information Technology talent. The collaboration is Coursera’s first government partnership in Nigeria.

According to the statement, "Partnering with Coursera will give Nigerian learners access to Coursera’s Professional Certificates portfolio, which are designed to empower learners to gain the skills necessary to pass an industry certification exam or launch a career in a specific field, such as IT support within three months.

"Coursera’s 32 Professional Certificates are explicitly designed to facilitate entry into high-growth careers, including Data Analytics (Google), Social Media Marketing (Meta), and Software Developer (IBM). These roles are due to enhance an increasing share of the Nigerian labour market, which expects 3 million digital jobs to be created in the next four years." The statement noted.

GThe Cohort 3 skills will focus on the 3 million Tech talent (3MTT) initiative of the Federal Ministry of communication, Innovation and Digital Economy as listed below;

* Software Development

* UI/UX Design

* Data Analysis & Visualisations

* Quality Assurance

* Product Management

* Data Science

* Animation

* AI/Machine Learning

* Cyber Security

* Game Development

* Cloud Computing

* Dev Ops

Interested Nigerians are invited to apply through the link below. 

Application Link: https://links.nitda.gov.ng/coursera2401

Applications start date: Wednesday, 24 January 2024

Programme Start Date: 10th February 2024

About NITDA

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) was created in April 2001 to implement the Nigerian Information Technology Policy and co- ordinate general IT development in the country. NITDA develops, regulates and advises on Information technology in Nigeria through regulatory standards, guidelines and policies.

Additionally, NITDA is the clearing house for all IT projects and infrastructural development in the country. It is the primary Agency for e- government implementation, Internet governance and general IT development in Nigeria.

About Coursera

Coursera was launched in 2012 by two Stanford Computer Science professors, Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller, with a mission to provide universal access to world-class learning. It is now one of the largest online learning platforms in the world, with 107 million registered learners as of June 30, 2022. Coursera partners with over 275 leading university and industry partners to offer a broad catalog of content and credentials, including courses, Specializations, Professional Certificates, Guided Projects, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Institutions around the world use Coursera to upskill and reskill their employees, citizens, and students in fields such as data science, technology, and business.