Commonwealth of Learning (COL) Opportunity: COL – Skills for Work Programme

St. George’s, Grenada, May 20, 2022 – The Ministry of Education, Human Resource

Development, Religious Affairs and Information, in partnership with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), continues to provide scholarship opportunities for Grenadian citizens to attain skills that are required for decent employment or entrepreneurship through the COL-Skills for Work programme COHORT #3.

The initiative enables citizens to access over 5000+ 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 Program:

• COL-Grow with Google Skills for Work

• COL-Coursera Skills for Work

• COL-Udemy Skills for Work

The Ministry of Education therefore invites eligible citizens to apply for the 600 available scholarships under the COL – Skills for Work programme COHORT #3. Please apply now as both time and space are limited. All interested individuals must submit their application by May 30, 2022.

See the link to the website to apply: www.SkillsForWork.gd

Successful applicants will receive a scholarship to enroll and complete as many courses as possible in one of the three 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 prioritized for the scholarship program.)

• 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 2022

• COHORT 3 – 600 scholarships

• Successful candidates will have access to the respective platform from June 5, 2022 to

November 30, 2022 (6 months)

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 and 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 two (2) days of receiving the invitation.

• 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 one (1) course within four weeks of the commencement of the scholarship.

• For COL Coursera and Udemy scholarships, the learner is required to complete at least three (3) courses within the five (5) month period.

• For COL-Grow with Google Scholarship, learners are required to commit at least 10 hours per week.

• Successful candidates cannot transfer from one platform to another during the programme.

• Applicants must only apply once (Multiple applications will not increase your chances.)

• The scholarship will be withdrawn if any learner is not able to demonstrate enough commitment and willingness to take advantage of this scholarship and the Ministry of Education reserves the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

• 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 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Landline: (473) 440-2737 extension: 27089

Mobile: (473) 459 – 4337

WhatsApp: (473) 459 – 4337

Email: SkillForWork@moe.edu.gd

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

Specialized courses offered with Grow with Google:

Only six specialized courses are offered through the Coursera platform.

• IT Automation with Python

• UX Design

• IT Support

• IT Project Management

• Data Analytics

• Android Development (soon to be available)