Education – Information technology | Local students take away one-third of top-level Microsoft awards

Two students from Macau have recently been named World Champions in the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship. Only a total of six students worldwide were awarded the accolade.
Organizer Certiport, a provider of certification exam development and program management services, described the feat of taking away one-third of the available awards as “a great accomplishment”.
Sixteen-year-old Lei Kuan Hou, a high school student at Catholic school Instituto Salesiano, won the World Champion award for Excel 2010. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Chao Ka Hei, who attends Yuet Wah College and enjoys programming and creating computer networks, won for PowerPoint 2010. Chao also won an award in last year’s championship, according to the Certiport.
Two other winners, 16-year-­old Ming Lai Tin and 18-year-­old Lee Pak Hei, who won World Champion awards for Microsoft Word 2013 and Microsoft Excel 2013 respectively, both hail from Hong Kong. The remaining award winners, Georgi Boshev and Ryan Catalfu are from Bulgaria and the USA respectively.
Award winners in the 2010 products series were awarded a USD5,000 cash prize, while those in the 2013 categories were given USD7,500.
Competition organizer Certiport, a Pearson VUE business, and Microsoft jointly decided the winners at the venue of the competition final in Florida, USA.
Now in its 15th year, the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) World Championship is one of the most popular technology skills competitions for Microsoft Office and the only one to have been endorsed by Microsoft since its inception in 2002.
The 2016 edition attracted more than 700,000 unique candidates from 120 countries who took an MOS certification exam to demonstrate their mastery of Microsoft products.
Regional competitions were held worldwide and 150 student finalists from 48 countries competed in the competition’s final round in Florida.
For the final round, competitors were required to participate in unique project-based tests to demonstrate their ability to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations for the information, to be presented in Microsoft products Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
“As we celebrate the 15th year for this competition it is more popular than ever,” said Bob Whelan, president of Pearson Assessments. “In today’s global economy these young people understand that [a] Microsoft Office Specialist certification gives them an edge and prepares them for success.”
“The competition is a lot of fun, but it also gives participants a valuable, industry-recognized certification [for] their resume,” added Whelan.
According to Certiport, the MOS certification is the only official Microsoft-recognized certification for Microsoft Office globally and “serves as a powerful instrument for assessing student skills and preparing students for real-world application.”
The sentiment was articulated at the event by Anneleen Vaandrager, senior director of worldwide public sector – education at Microsoft, who said: “These students are masters at Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and they understand that achieving proficiency in these applications will help them in their academic success and entry into the workforce.”
Organizer Certiport said it will host the 2017 MOS World Championship next year in California, USA. DB