Scholarship opportunities by Google for African students

Google has opened applications for the 2019 edition of the Google Africa Certifications Scholarships.

The programme, according to Google, is part of its continued effort to provide digital skills training, education, economic opportunity and support to African start-ups and developers.

In line with its commitment to provide mobile developer training to 100 000 Africans, the tech giant says it is offering 30, 000 scholarship opportunities and 1 000 grants for the Google Associate Android, Mobile Web and Associate Cloud Engineercertifications.

The developer training is available to applicants from across Africa and will be delivered by Google’s partners: online education company Pluralsight and software start-up Andela.

Both will deliver an intensive learning curriculum, designed to prepare motivated learners for entry-level and intermediate roles as software developers in these fields.

“*Africa is on track to have the largest working-age population of 1.1 billion by 2034,” says William Florance, global head of developer training programmes at Google.

“The scholarships are about preparing the youth for the jobs of tomorrow by equipping them with the right developer skills. Google’s certifications are developed around a job-task analysis that tests learners for skills employers expect developers to have in these domains, and we have already seen evidence that becoming certified can make a meaningful difference to developers and employers.”

Applicants must be residents of any country in Africa and at least 18 years of age when they submit applications. Training takes place 100% online.

The Google Africa Certifications Scholarships follow the announcement of 15 000 single course scholarships and 500 nano-degree scholarships in March last year.

“Google’s continued initiatives, focused on digital skills training, education and economic opportunity, and support for African start-ups and developers, demonstrate our commitment to helping advance a healthy and vibrant developer ecosystem,” Florance notes.

“By providing support for training and certifications, we will help bridge the unemployment gap on the continent through increasing the number of employable software developers.”

The online courses, which vary in duration, provide students with the following:

1. Guided skill development with curated paths and channels according to the chosen track.

2. Access to expert-led videos, available on-demand with Google’s mobile app and offline capabilities.

3. Skill assessments that help students identify knowledge gaps and strengths, and allow them to share their proficiency on Facebook, Twitter and Stack Overflow.

4. Support from the Pluralsight Help Centre and the Andela Learning Community to help students complete their track and prepare for their chosen Google certification exam.

To learn more about this opportunity click here
To apply click here

TSC's path

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) was established under Article 237 of the Constitution of Kenya (2010) as an Independent Commission that regulates the teaching service in Kenya.

The Commission plays a significant role in supporting the implementation of national development initiatives, including the Big Four Agenda, and several international conventions such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The operations of TSC are linked to the ongoing reforms in the education sector as articulated in the Vision 2030 Strategy and the Medium Term III, among other policy documents. 

The intermediate outcome from these reforms is to enhance the quality of the teaching service by improving the professional capacity and conduct of teachers.

 

 This Strategic Plan outlines the vision, mission, goals, strategic objectives and strategies upon which TSC reforms are anchored for delivery of quality education and training.

The broad thematic areas are the Teacher Competence, Conduct and Performance Management, Reforms and Innovations in Provision of Teaching Services and Service Delivery Re-engineering form the basis for the Plan.

In implementing the Strategic Plan, TSC shall be guided by our core values of Professionalism, Customer Focus, Integrity, and Team Spirit.

I am convinced that these norms shall propel the Commission towards its Vision, “To be a transformative teaching service for quality education” and eventually contribute to the provision of globally competitive quality education, training, and research for sustainable development.

The TSC Strategic Plan (2019-2013) shall also be implemented within the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) budget guidelines.

During the implementation, the Commission shall continue to engage stakeholders, including the private sector and development partners, to support the identified programmes.

At the same time, efforts will be made to strengthen governance structures and provide a harmonious working atmosphere for improved efficiency in resource mobilization, utilization, minimizing duplication of efforts and optimizing opportunities for interagency linkages in programme implementation. 

 

Finally, I wish to convey my appreciation to the chairperson and members of the Commission whose support and invaluable input shaped the quality of this Plan, TSC secretariat for their efforts, time and input that led to the successful completion of this plan.

I further wish to acknowledge all the stakeholders for their direct or indirectly to the successful preparation of the 2019- 2023 Strategic Plan.

The extract is from the TSC 2019-2023 draft policy. The writer is the TSC chief Executive Officer. 

Form three mathematics April holiday assignment

If your device can read a word document then you can down load this assignment by clicking here

Nyamira county 2019 POYA

Livingstone Agwata

Nyakongo boys high school in nyamira,through her BOM has resolved to embrace ICT in classroom teaching and learning and there is no turning back; through this we hope the improve our academic performance from mean of 4 to 6.53 in 2018 and subsequent improvement in coming years also God willing in the other operation areas we will use ICT to enable the school to become a digital school of distinction.

Source; Nyakongo boys school

The editor of this blog takes this earliest opportunity to congratulate Mr. Agwata and wish him all the best in the regional competitions. If he wins in the region, he will be the first to bring the POYA award to Nyamira county.

Form two physics April holiday assignment

1.  Draw a vernier caliper scale to show a reading of 3.36cm (2 mks)
2. The figure below shows the change in volume of water in a measuring cylinder when an irregular solid is immersed in it.

Given that the mass of the solid is 567g determine the density of the solid in Kg/m3. (Give your answer correct to 2 d.p) (3 mks)

3. A small drop of oil has a volume of 5 x 10^-8m³. When it is put on a surface of some clean water, it forms a circular film of 0.1m² in area.

                    i.            What is the size of a molecule of oil                                          (3 mks)

                  ii.            State 2 assumptions you made in your calculations                                                (2 mks)

4.   A body weighs 600N on the surface of the earth and 450N on the surface of another planet. Calculate the value of g in that planet (g on the earth = 10 N/Kg) (3 mks)

5 The diagram below shows the behavior of mercury in a capillary tube. Explain this observation (3 marks)

6.   How does temperature rise and impurities affect the surface tension of water                (2 mks)

7. The diagram below shows a soap film trapped in a wire loop with a loose thread passing through 

    a)      Redraw the diagram to show how the thread is affected                                                    (2 mks)

     b)      Explain why the thread behaves in this manner                                                                   (2 mks)

8.      The reading on a mercury barometer at Mombasa is 760mm. calculate the pressure at Mombasa (density of mercury = 1.36 x10⁴ Kg/m³)                                                      (3 mks)

9.      Explain the reason why a person moving from lowland to highland is likely to suffer a hose bleeding (3 mks)

10.    Describe a simple experiment to show that pressure in liquid increases as depth increases (3 mks)

11.      Distinguish between the three states of matter in terms of particle spacing and kinetics                        (3 mks)

12.      Explain why the blades of a panga feels colder than the wooden handle when touched with a finger after exposure to low temperatures                                                                         (2 mks)

13.      The figure below shows a ray of light being incident on a mirror

What is the angle of reflection                                                                                          (3 mks)

14. The diagram below shows a “couple” in action

Given that the diameter of the wheel is 0.6m, determine the moment to the couple           (3 mks)

15.      State the basic law of magnetism                                                                                        (2 mks)

16.      Draw the magnetic field pattern for the magnets shown below                                         (2 mks)

17.      Explain the reason why a freely suspended bar magnet comes to rest pointing in the N – S direction (3 mks)

18.      Explain why repulsion is the only sure test for magnetism                                              (2 mks)

19. The figure below shows an electromagnet

                    i.            Explain why the core is made up of iron and not steel                                          (2 mks)

                    ii.            On the same diagram indicate the direction of the current flow when the switch is closed  (1 mk)

                   iii.            When the current is allowed to flow through the electromagnet it is magnetized. Identify the poles of the magnet                                                                          (2 mks)

                    iv.            Give the name of the law you have used to determine the poles and state it        (3 mks)

             v.     Explain what would happen if the current is allowed to flow for a long time   (2 mks) 

20.      Brownian motion of smoke particles can be studied by using the apparatus shown below. To observe the motion, some smoke is enclosed in the smoke cell and then observed through the microscope as shown below.

    a)      Explain the role of the smoke particles, lens and microscope in the experiment                   (6 mks)

    b)      State and explain the nature of the observed motion of the smoke particles                         (3 mks)

     c)   State what will be observed about the motion of the smoke particles if the temperature surrounding the smoke cell is raised slightly                                              (1 mk)

21.      a) State the principle of moments                                                                                (2 mks)

              b)      The diagram below shows a uniform wooden beam of length 6m and mass 30kg pivoted as shown below

How far from the pivot will the 65kg mass be for the beam to be in equilibrium        (3 mks)

   b)      A uniform metre rule of weight 100N is suspended horizontally by two vertical springs P and Q placed 20cm and 30cm from its ends respectively. Calculate the force (tension) in each string(5 mark)

21.      In an experiment to determine the density of a soil using a density bottle, the following measurements were recorded.

Mass of empty density bottle = 42. 9g

Mass of density bottle full of water = 66.1g

Mass of density bottle with some soil = 67. 2g

Mass of density bottle with soil filled up with water = 82.0g

Use the above data to determine the:-

      a)      Mass of water that completely filled the bottle                                       (2 mks)

      b)      Volume of water that completely filled the bottle                                 (1 mk)

      c)      Volume of the density bottle  (1 mk)

      d)      Mass of soil                     (1 mk)

      e)      Mass of water that filled the space above soil                                  (1 mk)

       f)       Volume of soil                (1 mk)

     g)      The density of the soils   (2 mks)

22.      The figure below shows the features of a dry cell (lenclanche). Use the information in the figure to answer the following questions.

      a)      Name the parts                               (4 mks)

A…………………

B………………

C……………

D……………

     a)      Explain the purpose of B     (2 mks)

     a)      State 2 defects of a dry cell and give their remedies                                    (4 mks)

Control who adds you to a WhatsApp group

WhatsApp has confirmed that it is rolling out a new privacy setting that will help you decide who can add you to groups, preventing additions to those annoying WhatsApp groups by rogue admins in the middle of the night.

“WhatsApp groups continue to connect family, friends, co-workers, classmates and more. As people turn to groups for important conversations, users have asked for more control over their experience,” the Facebook-owned instant messaging company said in a statement
To restrict joining of new groups on WhatsApp, there will be the specific privacy setting that can be accessed by going to Account > Privacy > Groups from the WhatsApp settings menu and then three distinct options will be available on the screen, namely Nobody, My Contacts, and Everyone.

If you select the Nobody option, you’ll have to approve joining every WhatsApp group to which you’re invited. My Contacts option will enable users you have in your address book to add you to groups. There will also be the Everyone option that won’t add any restriction, in that anyone will be able to send you an invite or to add you to any Whatsapp group.

“With these new features, users will have more control over the group messages they receive,” WhatsApp said.

In those cases, the person inviting users to a group will be prompted to send a private invite through an individual chat, giving them the choice of joining the group. Users will have three days to accept the invite before it expires.

These new privacy settings will begin rolling out to some users starting today and will be available worldwide in the coming weeks to those using the latest version of WhatsApp.