WITH over 10,000 Guyanese earning over 54,000 Coursera certificates through the Commonwealth of Learning (CoL)’s Workforce Recovery Initiative that started last year, the Ministry of Education has secured a further 800 scholarships for Guyanese to study in a number of six-month training programmes offered by Udemy, Grow with Google, and Coursera.  The main areas of focus are digital marketing, graphics design, android development and entrepreneurship, among other areas.
“There are 200 scholarships available for courses offered through Coursera, 300 scholarships for courses offered by Grow with Google, and 300 scholarships for courses offered by Udemy,” the Ministry of Education said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
The statement further mentioned: “Applicants must be between the ages of 16 and 50 to apply. They must also have access to a reliable Internet connection, and be ready to commit at least five hours of learning per week. Scholarships will be awarded on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis for those persons who satisfy the criteria.”
Like the Workforce Recovery Initiative, this programme is being done as part of the CoL’s Skills for Work initiative.
This initiative offers citizens of Commonwealth countries the opportunity to acquire skills to gain employment, access better work opportunities and attain improved livelihoods.

“According to CoL, the initiative aims to close the skills gap in demand and high-demand jobs in commonwealth countries. All citizens including persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply,” the statement noted. Through the Workplace Recovery Initiative, Guyanese were allowed to pursue short courses offered by the world’s leading universities, as a response to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on employment.
The programme allowed Guyanese to learn new skills and to improve their knowledge base in particular areas.
A number of countries would have also benefitted from this programme; however, Guyana was the country with the highest number of registrants and certificates earned by a participating country.  The new batch of scholarships will now offer certificate programmes outside of those being offered under Coursera.
Founded in May 2010, Udemy is an American massive open Online course provider aimed at professional adults and students.

As of April of 2021, the platform has had more than 40 million students, registered in 155,000 courses, with 70,000 instructors teaching courses in over 65 languages, and over 480 million course enrollments.
Grow with Google, which was launched in 2017, is an initiative through which Google partners with libraries, schools, and other organisations to provide digital literacy workshops and one-on-one coaching. Google says it works with more than 7,000 partner organisations and has trained more than four million people.
Graduates from the Grow with Google programmes stand a chance of being hired by one of the world’s top employers including Coursera, T-Mobile and Best Buy. Interested citizens can register by visiting: www.col-skillsforwork.org.
“The Ministry of Education encourages all Guyanese to take advantage of this new opportunity to improve their skills and knowledge base. The ministry is an advocate for lifelong learning and will continue to seek opportunities for Guyanese to pursue training and academic development,” the statement underscored.