A Knockbeg College student is set to represent Ireland at the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Four Nations Championship this month.
Oisin Chelmiah, from Arles in Laois, was crowned Irish National champion for PowerPoint following a qualifying event in May.
In October 2016, Microsoft and Prodigy Learning launched the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Four Nations Championship for students across England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales to prove their mastery of Microsoft Office.
The ultimate prize for 3 students will be the trip of a lifetime to the MOS World Championship Final in Disneyland, California to represent the UK and Ireland.
Microsoft Ireland was host to the second national qualifying final event in May which saw Luke Hamilton (Summerhill College, Co. Sligo), Muireann Nolan (Banagher Community College, Co.Offaly) and Oisin Chelmiah (Knockbeg College, Co.Carlow) being crowned the Irish National Champions.
Chelmiah won the PowerPoint competition while Nolan and Hamilton were crowned Excel and Word champions respectively.
Since the competition’s launch, thousands of students across Ireland aged 13-22 have taken MOS exams to qualify and compete to claim a place as a Irish MOS finalist.
The best of the best from these students culminated in the top twenty for each of the categories: Word, PowerPoint and Excel, being invited to this inaugural event for Ireland.
At the Final the top 60 students sat a further exam in their qualifying category and the winners were crowned by achieving the highest, most accurate score in the quickest time.
As well as a number of prizes on the day and the prestige of being the Irish Champions, Chelmiah and the other two students have been invited to represent Ireland in the UK and Ireland Finals at Microsoft’s UK Headquarters in Reading in June.
The importance of digital skills in today’s job market is indisputable.
Independent research consistently ranks skills in Microsoft Office among the top five attributes that employers look for in prospective candidates.
This was emphasised by Dr. Kevin Marshall (Head of Education, Microsoft Ireland) who also commented: “On behalf of Microsoft I’d like to congratulate all of the finalists and wish the Champions the best of luck representing Ireland at the MOS Four Nations Final in June.”
“We are delighted to work with schools and colleges across Ireland embedding innovative ways of teaching and learning supported by Microsoft Education offerings such as Microsoft Office Specialist certification which validates core digital skills.”
“The MOS Four Nations Championship showcases key digital, problem-solving and collaboration skills which prepare students for the kind of careers and the world which will exist when they leave school.”
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