The national round of the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship (MOSWC) 2015, the fifth of its kind in Vietnam, was officially kicked off during an announcing ceremony in Thai Nguyen city, northern Thai Nguyen province on March 14.

The competition is organised by the Ministry of Education and Training in collaboration with IIG Vietnam Company, the military-run telecom group Viettel and Tuoi Tre (Youth) Newspaper.

Candidates at the local level, able to use Microsoft Word 2010, Microsoft Excel 2010 and Microsoft PowerPoint 2010, have a 50-minute test for a maximum score of 1,000.

The national qualifying round will take place on April 19 in seven provinces, while the final national round will be held on May 24.

The winner will compete in the World Final Round in Dallas, Texas, the United States in August this year.

Any contestant scores 700/1,000 and over will be granted an international Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certificate by Microsoft.

The MOSWC is an annual competition for students aged 13-22 all over the world who share a common interest for Microsoft Office applications. The competition has been held for the last 13 years by the US-based Certiport Corporation.-VNA