Google seeks African developers for 30 000 scholarships

Google has opened applications for the 2019 edition of the Google Africa Certifications Scholarships.

The programme, according to Google, is part of its continued effort to provide digital skills training, education, economic opportunity and support to African start-ups and developers.

In line with its commitment to provide mobile developer training to 100 000 Africans, the tech giant says it is offering 30 000 scholarship opportunities and 1 000 grants for the Google Associate Android, Mobile Web and Associate Cloud Engineer certifications.

The developer training is available to applicants from across Africa and will be delivered by Google’s partners: online education company Pluralsight and software start-up Andela.

Both will deliver an intensive learning curriculum, designed to prepare motivated learners for entry-level and intermediate roles as software developers in these fields.

“Africa is on track to have the largest working-age population of 1.1 billion by 2034,” says William Florance, global head of developer training programmes at Google.

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“The scholarships are about preparing the youth for the jobs of tomorrow by equipping them with the right developer skills. Google’s certifications are developed around a job-task analysis that tests learners for skills employers expect developers to have in these domains, and we have already seen evidence that becoming certified can make a meaningful difference to developers and employers.”

Applicants must be residents of any country in Africa and at least 18 years of age when they submit applications. Training takes place 100% online.

The Google Africa Certifications Scholarships follow the announcement of 15 000 single course scholarships and 500 nano-degree scholarships in March last year.

“Google’s continued initiatives, focused on digital skills training, education and economic opportunity, and support for African start-ups and developers, demonstrate our commitment to helping advance a healthy and vibrant developer ecosystem,” Florance notes.

“By providing support for training and certifications, we will help bridge the unemployment gap on the continent through increasing the number of employable software developers.”

The online courses, which vary in duration, provide students with the following:

* Guided skill development with curated paths and channels according to the chosen track.

* Access to expert-led videos, available on-demand with Google’s mobile app and offline capabilities.

* Skill assessments that help students identify knowledge gaps and strengths, and allow them to share their proficiency on Facebook, Twitter and Stack Overflow.

* Support from the Pluralsight Help Centre and the Andela Learning Community to help students complete their track and prepare for their chosen Google certification exam.

Interested prospective students can apply here.