Commonwealth of Learning Opportunity: Skills for Work Programme

The Ministry of Education, Human Resource Development, Religious Affairs, and Information, in partnership with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is providing scholarship opportunities for Grenadian citizens to attain skills that are required for decent employment or entrepreneurship through the COL-Skills for Work programme.

The initiative enables citizens to access over 5,000 high-quality skills development courses provided through the world’s leading e-learning platforms, Coursera and Udemy. Courses are certified upon completion. The initiative is aimed at increasing citizen’s chances of employment both locally and abroad as well as encouraging entrepreneurship, thereby enabling the improvement in livelihood for citizens and promoting lifelong learning.

Three different scholarships are offered under the Skills for Work Programme:

•  COL-Grow with Google Skills for Work
•  COL-Coursera Skills for Work
•  COL-Udemy Skills for Work

The Ministry of Education invites eligible citizens to apply for the first 600 available scholarships under the COL – Skills for Work programme.

Please apply now as both time and space are limited. See link to the website to apply: https://gov.gd/moe/skillsforwork. All interested persons must apply by 7 May 2021.

Successful applicants will receive a scholarship to enroll and complete as many courses as possible in one of the 3 certification programmes: Coursera, Udemy and Grow with Google.

Eligibility Criteria/Target Learners

•  Must be a citizen of Grenada
•  Individuals who are interested in gaining new skills to enter or traverse the job market
•  Students in the final year of their associate degree/undergraduate/diploma/postgraduate degree
•  Individuals who are unemployed and wish to gain skills to start a micro-enterprise or to secure a job
•  Individuals who are employed and wish to reskill or upskill
•  Individuals with disabilities with basic ICT skills (Individuals with disabilities will be prioritised for the scholarship programme.)
•  Individuals who may have had their income reduced due to the effects of Covid-19
•  Any gender
•  Young men are especially encouraged to apply for the scholarship.

Timeline and Number of Scholarships for 2021

•  Cohort 1 – 600 Scholarships from 1 May  – 30 September 2021 (5 months)
•  Cohort 2 – 600 Scholarships from 1 October 2021 – 31 March 2022 (6 months)

Deadline for application submission:

•  Cohort 1 – 7 May 2021
•  Cohort 2 – 20 September 2021

Scholarship Rules

• Once your application is submitted using the online form, a selection committee comprising officials from the Ministry of Education will shortlist the eligible candidates. Shortlisted candidates may or may not be required to participate in an online screening process and/or telephone interview.
• Shortlisted candidates will be provided with the details for online screening and/or telephone interviews through phone/ SMS/email/WhatsApp/Telegram.
• Successful candidates will be formally notified and a formal invitation to join the desired online platform will be sent to them.
• Successful candidates must respond to the email invitation to sign up for the designated certification programme (Coursera, Udemy or Grow with Google portal) within 2 days of receiving.
• The learner must then enroll in a course or more, within one week of accepting the invitation.
• The learner must show enough progress (the minimum weekly study hours) in their course selection(s).
• The learner must complete at least 1 course within 4 weeks of the commencement of the scholarship.

For COL Coursera and Udemy scholarships, the learner is required to complete at least 3 courses within the 5-month period. For COL-Grow with Google Scholarship, learners are required to commit at least 10 hours per week.

The scholarship will be withdrawn if any learner is not able to demonstrate enough commitment and willingness to take advantage of it, and the Ministry of Education reserves the right to not consider such learner for any future COL scholarship programmes.

A helpdesk facility is available to help facilitate learning. Please note that this programme does not provide equipment or financial assistance to applicants.

Help desk: Contact our help desk for any assistance or queries. Our staff aims to provide administrative and academic support. Monday – Friday 8 am to 4 pm; Landline: (473) 440-2737 extension: 27089; Mobile: (473) 459 – 4337; WhatsApp: (473) 459 – 4337; Email: [email protected]

Please see categories of courses offered in each scholarship that can guide your selection:

Category of Courses Offered on Udemy

•  Cloud Computing
•  Data Science
•  Design
•  IT Operations
•  Finance & Accounting
•  Leadership & Management
•  Marketing
•  Office Productivity
•  Project Management & Operations
•  Personal Development
•  Sales
•  Human Resources

Category of courses offered on Coursera

•  Digital Transformation
•  Entrepreneurship
•  Cloud Computing
•  Application & Web Development
•  Artificial Intelligence (AI)
•  Big Data
•  Leadership and Influence
•  Problem Solving and Critical Thinking

Grow with Google Skills for Work Scholarship: Only six specialised courses offered.

•  IT Automation with Python
•  UX Design
•  IT Support
•  IT Project Management
•  Data Analytics
•  Android Development (Soon to be available)

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