Ngee Ann Polytechnic student completes 45-minute test in less than 8 minutes with perfect score
Two Singapore polytechnic students were crowned the World Champions this week in the global 2004 Microsoft Office Specialist Academic Competition, after topping the Asia-Pacific leg of the competition in Shanghai.
The pair has won an all-expenses paid trip to Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington where they will receive their recognition at an award ceremony by Microsoft's officials. The trip, which is sponsored by Certiport, is scheduled to take place end of August
Ngee Ann Polytechnic student Lee Chee Yuan had the highest score with the fastest time in the world for the Microsoft Word 2002 competition, whilst Lau Cher Han from Singapore Polytechnic achieved a similar result for the Microsoft Excel 2002 challenge.
The Asia Pacific leg of the Microsoft Office Specialist Academic Competition was held in July in Shanghai at the Jiao Tong University. Chee Yuan's performance in Shanghai was especially commendable because he achieved a perfect score. When asked about his performance, Chee Yuan was proud to admit: 'I wasn?t sure how I'd measure up, and didn?t think I'd win, but I know my work well and just tried my best. So when I was able to finish the 45-minute test in less than 8 minutes, I knew I was in with a good chance.'
Singapore also won 2nd place honours in the Word 2002 and 3rd place in Excel 2002 competitions: Low Yi Yang of Ngee Ann Poly and Wong Wei Ming of Temasek Poly were 1st and 2nd runners-up in the respective competitions in Shanghai.
Team Singapore competed against 15 other students from China, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand.
The Microsoft Office Specialist Academic Competition is an annual global competition, for students from around the world to test their prowess in the Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word applications. The exams are task-based and scores are awarded based on the successful tasks done as instructed. In each question there are multiple tasks to perform, with the test taker having to complete all the questions given within a fixed time. So not only do the students need to know the features of the application, they also need to be efficient in order to pass each of the task objectives. The application exams can be found at www.microsoft.com/learning.
The Singapore leg of the competition is organised by Microsoft Singapore and NTUC Testing Services. The head of NTUC Testing Services, Christopher Chang, thought the games came at an opportune time to celebrate. 'The Champions have made Singapore proud! It is certainly a timely present for Singapore's 39th Birthday!' he said.
In the local Singapore competition, some Primary 4 students competed for their chance to become Singapore's youngest Microsoft Office specialist. Taking the honours was nine-year-old Ng Lee Hui from Rulang Primary School, who is the youngest to be certified in Singapore. When asked about her achievements, Miss Ng said 'I am proud to be given this opportunity by my school to learn so many things about Microsoft Word. I am inspired to find out more about Open Tools.'
Mr Andrew Pickup, Marketing Director, Microsoft Singapore, added: 'It is always exciting to see everyone - young students included - use Microsoft's products in an exciting and fun way. That is what the Microsoft Office Specialist Academic Competition is all about - helping people realize their fullest potential through technology.'
NTUC Testing Services sponsored the top students on the Singapore champion's trip to Shanghai. The Singapore leg of the competition, Singapore 2004 Microsoft Office Academic Skills Challenge, was supported by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and the National Infocomm Competency Centre (NICC). To find out more on next year's competition and how to participate, watch out for more information at www.officespecialist.com.sg/challenge2005.
The competitions for each of the four Microsoft regions, including EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), the Americas, Japan and Asia-Pacific, was organised by Certiport, the exclusive worldwide provider of the Microsoft Office Specialist program.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq 'MSFT') is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software - any time, any place and on any device.
About Certiport
Certiport is the leading provider of global, performance-based certification programs and services designed to enable individual success and lifetime advancement. Certiport is a pioneer in performance-based testing, data management systems, and developing certification programs, including Microsoft Office Specialist and Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC?), through extensive research and professional validation processes. For more information about Certiport, visit www.certiport.com.
About NTUC Testing Services
NTUC Testing Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of NTUC LearningHub. Since the year 2000, the unit promotes internationally recognized certifications and provides conducive place for candidates to take the certification exams and licensures through the following major authorized channels: ACCA, Certiport, ICAEW, Microsoft Office Specialist, NASD, Pearson VUE and Thomson Prometric. It is also the Authorised Exam Distributor for the Microsoft Office Specialist Certification Program for Singapore www.officespecialist.com.sg
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For more information, press only:
Christopher Chang
NTUC Testing Services
DID: (65) 6372 3991
Mobile: (65) 9745 2881
Email: changks@ntuc.org.sg
Amelia Agrawal
Microsoft Singapore
DID: (65) 6433 5553
Mobile: (65) 9754 3876
Email: ameliaa@microsoft.com
Source:
http://www.microsoft.com/singapore/mssg_docs/1809.aspx
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