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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in partnership with Coursera is receiving applications from interested Nigerians for Cohort 3 of Coursera courses. The programme aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda of creating one million digital jobs.
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First launched in 2022, the collaboration between NITDA and Coursera aim to address the high rates of youth unemployment, reaching 19.6% in 2021. The initiative targets training 8,000 Nigerian learners annually, with a cohort of 4,000 learners each, totaling 24,000 over three years.
Coursera provides selected learners with access to top-notch educational content from leading universities and industry giants, including Yale, Meta, Google, and IBM. This partnership aids the Nigerian government in enhancing the technical capabilities of the country’s youth and cultivating talent in Information Technology—an inaugural government collaboration for Coursera in Nigeria.
Through this partnership, Nigerian learners gain access to Coursera’s Professional Certificates portfolio, designed to empower them with skills required for industry certification exams or to kickstart careers in specific fields like IT support within three months.
Coursera’s 32 Professional Certificates are tailored for entry into high-growth careers such as Data Analytics (Google), Social Media Marketing (Meta), and Software Developer (IBM). These roles are expected to play a significant role in the expanding Nigerian labor market, anticipating the creation of 3 million digital jobs in the next four years.
Progress Report
The partnership has witnessed 8,000 graduates from Cohort 1 (4,000) and Cohort 2 (4,000) in the first year, spanning students, government workers, entrepreneurs, and academics.
In these two cohorts, 43,745 enrollments occurred across different courses, resulting in 16,374 course completions, indicating an average of five courses per learner.
Skill development distribution across three domains includes Computer Science (31.83%), Business (35.73%), and Data Science (32.44%).
With an average rating of 4.8/5.0, learner feedback underscores Nigerians’ enthusiasm for digital upskilling on the Coursera Platform.
Cohort 3 will focus on the 3 Million Tech Talent (3MTT) initiative of the Federal Ministry of Communication, Innovation, and Digital Economy, covering various skills such as Software Development, UI/UX Design, Data Analysis & Visualizations, Quality Assurance, Product Management, Data Science, Animation, AI/Machine Learning, Cybersecurity, Game Development, Cloud Computing, and DevOps.
Interested Nigerians are encouraged to apply through the provided link:
Application Link: https://links.nitda.gov.ng/coursera2401
Application Period: Starting Wednesday, January 24, 2024
Program Start Date: February 10, 2024
