13th August, 2014
A Nigerian woman has been the first from the country to win a medal at the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship. Olubunmi Agusto of Nigeria placed second in the final round at Disneyland, CA, USA in Microsoft Word 2007.
More than 400,000 entered the competition in total, and 123 finalists competed in the final round. Certiport, a Pearson VUE business, the leading test delivery solution provider for the global workforce and academic markets, announced Dominique Howard the 2014 Microsoft Office Specialist World Champion in Word 2007, culminating in the most popular technology skills competition on Microsoft Office since its inception in 2002.
Olubunmi Agusto of Nigeria won second place and Hannah Wilson of the United Kingdom won third place.
In its 13th year, the 2014 Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship attracted more than 400,000 unique candidates from 130 countries who competed to demonstrate their mastery of Microsoft Office products. 123 student finalists participated in the final round of the competition.
Certiport recognized Dominique at the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship Student Awards Ceremony at Disney’s Grand Californian Resort and presented her with a $5,000 scholarship. Agusto received a $2,500 scholarship and Wilson received a $1,000 scholarship.
“Microsoft Office Specialist certification gives students a way to become tangibly prepared for college or a career,” said Margo Day, vice president of US education at Microsoft.
“Today’s job market requires computer proficiency and all individuals who earn certification have a valuable credential proving their skills. We congratulate the top winners for their extra efforts and look forward to seeing how they put their superior Microsoft Office skills to use in their future endeavours.”
In the concluding round, competitors participated in unique project-based tests to demonstrate their ability to create documents for the information presented in Word.
“More than 740,000 exams were uploaded as part of this competition, and the MOS World Champions are tops in an elite group of individuals who know how to use Microsoft Office tools effectively,” said Bob Whelan, president and chief executive officer for Pearson VUE.
“Microsoft Office Specialist certification continues to grow in popularity all over the world, allowing more students to prove they have the academic and workforce skills to succeed.”
Next year, Certiport will host the 2015 Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship in Dallas, Texas.