Kathmandu, August 3:

Microsoft Office Specialist Examination (MOSE), which will help people get Microsoft certification for desktop skills to meet workplace requirement, has started in Nepal for the first time.

MOSE, officially launched in 1997, is a Microsoft certified programme that would test and certify candidate skills in MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and Project.

The examination is already available in 118 countries and has become a basic work place requirement to authenticate computer proficiency.

Joe Tun Sein, consultant, examination division, Orient Longman (OL), India, notified that 85 per cent of current jobs require computer support, and the MOS certification will authenticate the skills.

He said, “The certification has become mandatory for job placement in many parts of the world. The examination system introduced in Nepal would capacitate Nepalis to meet the workplace prerequisite throughout the globe.”

It will certify candidates, who appear and get through the examination, with a global standard. It would be beneficial to students, teachers, academic institutions, workforce and employers.

Four authorised test centres — Galaxy Public School, Sea Gate Computers, Ekta Books Thapathali and Saipal Academy — are established in Kathmandu to conduct the MOSE.

Tun said that the plan is to establish ten centres in Kathmandu soon. “A minimum of 1,000 students are expected to appear in the exam before November,”he added.

To appear in the certification test, one should purchase a certification voucher that would be valid for six months and sit for the test at any authorised testing centres.

For preparatory simulation tests, a MOSE practice CD is available and Cyber learning is being provided through e-learning programmes.

An hour long exam will test the performance of candidates based on concurrent exam technology.

The OL is the authorised distributor of the certification in the Indian sub-continent.