Canon selects 10 Mathare community students to study at KCA University

Canon selects 10 Mathare community students to study at KCA University

Canon’s Miraisha Programme has selected 10 young storytellers from the Mathare community in Kenya to receive a scholarship at KCA University, helping them to develop skills for a sustainable livelihood.

Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA), together with Canon Miraisha, has chosen 10 young students for film and photography scholarships at the KCA University. Selected out of 200 Canon Miraisha participants taking part in the programme since 2018, the budding creatives will go on to develop their visual storytelling skills at the prestigious institution.

Canon Miraisha goes viral

CCNA has released a series of videos on social media to raise awareness of the importance of the Miraisha initiative and to celebrate the hard work and success of the scholars, which reached an incredible number of over 100,000 engagements. You can watch the full story on the @CanonCNA social channels.

One of the programme’s focal points is to provide employment opportunities to young people across Africa coming from low socio-economic background. Miraisha partnered with MindMe International Community Training Programme, based in a particularly disadvantaged community in Mathare which lacks employment prospects for young people.

The partnership empowers local young people to further develop their existing creative skills and helps them access or even create job opportunities, benefitting both their personal development and their local communities.

Future storytellers

The KCA University scholarships, which run across two 14-week semesters from May to December 2021, will enable the students to develop their visual communication skills as well as open up and prepare participants for creative and professional opportunities. This is particularly significant as currently there are young people entering into employment and entering creative professions.

The scholars will work towards a Certificate in Film Technology, studying 12 subjects including video camera operations, screenwriting, editing, photography and film production techniques. Their final project will be to produce a short film, which will allow them to showcase the development of their skills from their time involved in the programme.

The 10 students who have been granted scholarships are: Anthony Mugendi Mwaura, Cynthia Wanjiru Thige, Paul Mutisya Muindi, Brian Stephen Okwara, Saida Wangui Masudi, Maria Mumbi Muthoni, Irmale Zainabu Irmale, Mogaka Victor Gekara, Kevin Wanyoike Wanjiru, and Mercy Wangui Ndungu.

Partnerships for change

Professor Joshua G. Bagakas, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at KCA University said: “The overwhelming response to the current Miraisha campaign is a resounding vote of confidence in Canon’s training program. KCAU is especially delighted that the campaign will give 10 deserving young people the opportunity to realise their aspirations by studying film at the university. Visual storytelling is a powerful communication tool in today’s world, and we are excited to continue partnering with Canon to empower students and continue transforming lives.”

Somesh Adukia, Managing Director at Canon Central and North Africa added: “The Miraisha Programme is designed to give young people the tools and support to develop their skills and improve not only their own lives but also the lives of those in their communities. We look forward to seeing the scholars nurture their creative talents during their time at KCA University.”

These scholarships are the latest example of the direct support the Miraisha Programme offers to its participants to upskill. Across the African continent, Canon’s ‘train the trainer’ initiative, sees some participants in Miraisha programmes come back to help run future editions, it has already led to 3 local people becoming employed as Canon Miraisha Trainers. Now in its seventh year, Canon’s Miraisha Programme has educated more than 5,680 young storytellers across the continent since its launch in 2014.

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Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.

Udacity, Microsoft announce Machine Learning Scholarship Program

Udacity, Microsoft announce Machine Learning Scholarship Program

Machine Learning Scholarship Program Udacity Microsoft

Online learning platform, Udacity and Microsoft are introducing a new training program collaboration. The collaboration will see Udacity host various courses on Microsoft’s Azure cloud services. The partnership will start with a Machine Learning Scholarship Program for Microsoft Azure.

The Machine Learning scholarship program will start with a two-month-long low-code experience introduction to machine learning on Azure course. Followed by a four-month full Udacity Nanodegree program. The first phase will see 10,000 scholarships spots awarded. However, only 300 spots will be available in the Nanodegree program. Top performers from the foundation level who meet the selection criteria will make it.

AI is driving transformation across organizations and there is increased demand for data science skills,” says Julia White, Corporate Vice President, Azure Marketing, Microsoft. “Through our collaboration with Udacity to offer low-code and advanced courses on Azure Machine Learning, we hope to expand data science expertise as experienced professionals will truly be invaluable resources to solving business problems,” she continues.

Applications start from June 10  to 30th. Find out more details and apply here.

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Microsoft Global Tuition Scholarship for Students in Nigeria

Microsoft Global Tuition Scholarship for Students in Nigeria

Microsoft opens up its student scholarship program globally. Students in Nigeria can now apply for a Microsoft Tuition Scholarship.

Tuition Scholarship

The Microsoft scholarship program is an initiative to encourage students to pursue computer science and related STEM disciplines. Microsoft awards this to students who demonstrate passion for technology, academic excellence and leadership. The award was previously opened to university students in United States, Canada or Mexico.

The scholarship page says;

Welcome to the Microsoft Tuition Scholarship application page! Each year Microsoft awards Tuition Scholarships designed to empower the students that study Computer Science and related STEM(Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) disciplines. We look forward to reviewing your application.

Note: To be eligible for the scholarship, you must be enrolled full time in a bachelor’s degree program at a four year university at the time you submit the application.

If this is an opportunity you’ve been looking for, click to apply and submit your application.