Mark Chaban, Microsoft Education Lead, Middle East and Africa
In an effort to help prepare students for the technological skills required in the workforce, Microsoft has announced a new benefit to qualifying institutions, dubbed Student Advantage, which brings Microsoft Office 365 Education to more students worldwide.
Student Advantage enables access to the familiar experience of Office in an always-up-to-date cloud service across their compatible PCs, tablets and phones.
These include access assignments in shared workspaces, have notes synchronized in OneNote and have familiar Office applications such as Word, PowerPoint and Excel anywhere, across virtually any device.
Beginning December 1 this year, any institution worldwide that licenses Office 365 ProPlus or Office Professional Plus for staff and faculty can provide access to Office 365 ProPlus for students at no additional cost.
Today, more than 35,000 institutions are automatically eligible to deliver the Student Advantage benefit to their students.
“Students use Office every day for school work and activities that are most important to them. Office not only helps students stay organized and get their work done today but at the same time develops skills that will be required when they enter the work force,” Microsoft Education Lead, Middle East and Africa Mark Chaban said.
Chaban was speaking at a Higher Education forum organised by Microsoft and attended by dons from over 30 Private and Public Universities and the Ministry of Education in Nairobi.
The launch comes in the wake of a white paper released by International Data Corporation (IDC) which states that top candidates for current and future jobs will be measured by capabilities and competencies, with 20 distinct skills bubbling up to the top in millions of high-growth, high-paying job postings.
The study commissioned by Microsoft Corp provides insight into the skills students need for the top 60 high-growth, high-wage occupations that will account for 11.5 million new hires and 28 percent of job growth by 2020.
Out of those skills, oral and written communication, detail orientation, and Microsoft Office proficiency top the list.
