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Google recently announced its latest innovation, Google Certificate Courses, in the field of education, specializing in higher education. Google stated that they would be offering education in the form of affordable six-month degrees which will help individuals all around the world secure job opportunities which are in high demand and pay exceptionally well.
The Key Details
This is a much-anticipated announcement in the field of education as these Google Courses may aim to replace college education in the future. These certifications are available in a variety of areas. It was on 13th of July that Google’s Senior Vice President (VP) of Global affairs who is widely recognized and adored by many, known as Kent Walker announced, ‘The Keyword’ wherein he stated that Google was assisting the US in economic recovery.
Along with this, he wrote: “Technology has been a lifeline to help many small businesses during the COVID-19 crisis. And online tools can help people get new skills and find good-paying jobs.”
Kent stated an observation which was very interesting, and it was that about two-thirds of all the new jobs that have been created since 2010 had involved the requirement of digital skills. He stated that it is only logical that there exists digital training for these sort of job opportunities which may further help individuals get employed in the digital workforce.
The Future Ahead
It is observed that with regards to economics, the job market situation has seen a paradigm shift wherein the employers have seen to be valuing skills more than college degrees. Big data companies such as Apple, Tesla, Facebook, Google and others have more often than not, questioned people with degrees and their abilities.
Earlier on, having a college degree used to be a golden ticket to kickstart your career, whereas that is not the case anymore. Companies have observed the quality of the workforce seen in the past decade and have learned to value real-world skills over-generalized education made available by colleges.
One of the critical statements during his speech was when he stated that Google would be treating these new Google certification courses as equivalents of a four-year college degree in related roles. This is seen due to the high costs of tuition over the globe; these costs have been inflated to such an extent wherein college becomes inaccessible to the masses.
Google has not released any particular detail regarding the Google Course list but has made it very clear that they will be a fraction of college fees and on top of that Google will be offering over 1 lakh scholarships to students all over the world.
Google Certified courses are essential build-ups on two of the most popular courses on Coursera in 2018, which is their IT support specialist course and their IT automation course, which is a follow-up course offering the coding and programming to be done in Python.
More About the Certifications
The duration of the Google online courses will be eight months and will be taught by Google experts in their respective fields. These courses are purely online and do not require any prerequisites. It is also a very flexible system wherein assignment deadlines, and class schedules can be rescheduled and are also available in a variety of languages.
On top of this, Google has also committed to adding three other courses which are Data Analyst, Project Manager and UX (User Experience) Designer with the addition of $10 million in training grants for jobs. Google is also collaborating with several NGOs to provide more access in the field of digital skills for individuals who are in underserved communities, war veterans, women looking to restart/start their career.
Google has also provided unique perks for after completing their courses, which is expected from a company as big as google. Post-completion, the classes will guide the certificate holders to prepare for job interviews and also give access to a portal known as Google’s Employer Consortium, which has over 65 employers in every field. Moreover, Google has also announced its partnership with over 100 colleges over the United States.
“(US). Beginning this fall, Google will offer its IT support certification in the field of career and technical education in high schools across the United States (US).”
Conclusion
This new initiative by Google is undoubtedly generous and trailblazing. It is the first step to achieve quality education for the masses with equal opportunity and void of any exclusion. Every individual with an internet connection and access to a device has the opportunity to participate without any fear of rejection.
Additional Read: Top 10 Highest-Paying Certifications for 2021
This system is opposing the highly exclusive college model and envisions a future with equal opportunities void of any bias and rejection based on the ability to perform well in high pressured college entrance examinations. This is a much welcoming initiative and shall be a turning point in the history of education.
