●   In partnership with local organizations, Google is providing over 7,000 scholarships for individuals to upgrade their skills through Coursera certificates

●   Google is also offering new courses on its digital skills learning platform ‘Maharat min Google’ to equip individuals with the skills they need to grow their careers online

By : Bakinam Khaled

As part of its commitment to support local businesses and job seekers, Google is sponsoring over 7,000 scholarships for Google Career Certificates in the Middle East and North Africa. The four online certificates aim to support job-readiness for people without prior experience in fields such as IT Support, Project Management, UX Design and Data Analytics.

The scholarships are being distributed with the help of local organizations including the Egyptian Banking Institution (EBI) and the University Center for Career Development (UCCD) in Egypt, Amideast in Lebanon, the Agency for Digital Development (ADD) in Morocco, Gaza Sky Geeks in Palestine, the General Commission for Audiovisual Media (GCAM) and the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) in Saudi Arabia, and Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) and the Higher College of Technology in the UAE.

The scholarships will reach a wide range of participants representing women, young job seekers and those whose jobs have been affected by the pandemic.

The Google Career Certificates are also available to all interested learners. They can complete these low-cost self-paced programs on Coursera.org, and receive an official certificate to be recognized by employers to start and help grow their careers in the relevant job fields. IT Support Certificate is now available in Arabic.*

Introducing new courses on ‘Maharat min Google’

To help more people become better prepared for their next job opportunity or their new business, Google is introducing five additional Applied Digital Skills courses through ‘Maharat min Google’, a digital skills training program, which to date has been completed by one million Arabic speakers in MENA. The online courses will focus on necessary skills that help participants ‘Start a Resume’, ‘Use Google to Get a New Job’, and ‘Manage a Project with Digital Tools’ amongst others.

Over the past year, job-related searches on Google and searches for online learning materials on YouTube increased, as people were keen to develop their skills and expand their opportunities. Top searches included the generic search for ‘jobs’, ‘how-to write a resume’ while others searched for ‘remote-job’ opportunities.

The career certificates, scholarships and new courses are part of the company’s ‘Grow Stronger with Google’ initiative to help accelerate economic recovery in the MENA region through tools, programs and grants.  

*Monthly subscription costs are listed on the website.