The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), in collaboration with Coursera, is inviting applications from interested Nigerians for Cohort 3 of Coursera courses. This initiative aligns with NITDA’s commitment to implementing President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, aiming to create one million digital jobs in the Information Technology sector.
Hadiza Umar, the Head of Corporate Affairs and External Relations at NITDA, stated that this call for applications is part of NITDA and Coursera’s joint effort to address the high rates of youth unemployment. The partnership, launched on October 19, 2022, set out to train 8,000 Nigerian learners annually in cohorts of 4,000 learners each, totaling 24,000 learners over three years.
Coursera provides selected learners from NITDA with access to world-class educational content from top universities and industry leaders, including Yale, Meta, Google, and IBM. This collaboration aims to enhance the technical capabilities of Nigerian youths and develop IT talent.
The partnership allows Nigerian learners access to Coursera’s Professional Certificates portfolio. These certificates are designed to empower learners to acquire skills necessary for passing industry certification exams or launching a career in specific fields, such as IT support, within three months.
The focus of Cohort 3 will be on the 3 Million Tech Talent (3MTT) initiative of the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy. The courses participants are expected to undertake include Software Development, UI/UX Design, Data Analysis & Visualizations, Quality Assurance, Product Management, Data Science, Animation, AI/Machine Learning, Cyber Security, and Cloud Computing.
Beneficiaries from the first and second cohorts ranged from students, government workers, entrepreneurs, and academics. The feedback from learners in these cohorts, with an average rating of 4.8/5.0, indicates enthusiasm among Nigerians for digital up-skilling on the Coursera platform.
Interested participants can apply through this link. The application period is open from January 24, and the program is scheduled to begin on February 10.
