On June 14th, the closing ceremony and awards presentation for the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) World Championship 2024 in Vietnam took place in Hanoi.

The MOS World Championship is an international competition for high school and college students aged 13-22 worldwide, organized annually since 2002 by Certiport (USA) with the aim of discovering and honoring talented young people skilled in using office software applications.

2024 marks the 15th year that Vietnamese students have participated in the World Office Computing Championship.

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Mr. Nguyen Tuong Lam, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Youth Union and Permanent Vice Chairman of the National Committee on Vietnamese Youth, stated that digital transformation is an opportunity for young people to create many new values. (Photo: Organizing Committee)

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Mr. Nguyen Tuong Lam, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and Permanent Vice Chairman of the National Committee on Vietnamese Youth, said that digital transformation is a challenge, but above all, it is an opportunity for young people to move faster, break through, and create new values. From there, they can contribute to the nation's strength and prosperity in the future.

According to Mr. Nguyen Tuong Lam, over the years, the MOS World Championship has contributed to creating opportunities for Vietnamese youth to improve their IT application skills according to international standards and create a favorable stepping stone for future development with a prestigious professional certification.

"The competition is not only a valuable technological playground that helps young people accumulate computer science knowledge, but it also contributes to promoting the movement of learning computer science in the school system according to international standards. Through this, it contributes to improving the quality of young Vietnamese human resources in the digital age," a representative from the Central Committee of the Youth Union stated.

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Representatives of the Organizing Committee present the first prize to the six top-ranking students in each category of the MOS World Championship 2024. Photo: Organizing Committee.

At the awards ceremony for the MOS World Championship 2024 in Vietnam, the organizing committee announced the six national first prize winners: Nguyen Minh Duong, a student from Hanoi University of Science and Technology, won first prize in the Microsoft Word 365 Apps category; Do Dong Hai, a student from the National Economics University, won first prize in the Microsoft Excel 365 Apps category; Pham Nguyen Minh Hoang, a student from Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary and High School (Hanoi), won first prize in the Microsoft PowerPoint 365 Apps category; Tran Truong Giang, a student from Long Truong High School (Ho Chi Minh City), won first prize in the Microsoft Office Word 2019 category; Tran Thanh An, a student from Hanoi – Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, won first prize in the Microsoft Office Excel 2019 category; and Vo Ngoc Anh Linh, a student from Bao Loc High School for the Gifted (Lam Dong), won first prize in the Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2019 category.

In addition, at the event, the Organizing Committee also awarded 18 second prizes, 30 third prizes, 72 consolation prizes, and 6 promising prizes, along with many other awards to individuals and teams who achieved high results in the MOS World Championship 2024 in Vietnam.

With leading in 6 competition categories, the 6 first-place winners will represent Vietnamese students at the MOS World Championship 2024, which will take place from July 28th to July 31st in Anaheim, California, USA.

At the world finals, six Vietnamese students will compete against the best contestants from nearly 100 countries and territories around the world and have the chance to win one of the gold, silver, or bronze medals, along with corresponding prizes of $8,000, $4,000, and $2,000 for each award.

Looking back at the 15-year journey of the World Office Computing Championship in Vietnam, Ms. Doan Nguyen Van Khanh, Deputy General Director of IIG Vietnam, said that from over 100 contestants in the first season in 2010, the number of participants has increased more than 20 times. The skills of the contestants have also gradually improved with each season. In recent years, the number of contestants achieving the required score to receive the MOS international certification has consistently been above 70%.

"This shows that the competition has contributed to spreading and strongly encouraging the movement of learning and improving IT skills in line with new international trends at all levels of education, meeting the requirements of the digital economy," said Ms. Doan Nguyen Van Khanh.

According to statistics, the 2024 season saw the participation of nearly 2,200 contestants selected from 240 teams representing universities, colleges, vocational schools, and high schools nationwide. After the national qualifying round, nearly 86% of students achieved a score of 700 or higher, the score required to qualify for the Microsoft MOS certification.

Notably, among the 150 outstanding contestants nationwide who advanced to the national finals, more than half were high school students, including some as young as 7th grade. Many came from remote and disadvantaged areas of Lam Dong, Dak Lak, An Giang, and Yen Bai provinces.

Participating in the world finals, Vietnamese students have so far won 20 medals at the World Office Computing Championship, including 4 gold medals, 4 silver medals, and 12 bronze medals. At the same time, the Vietnamese student team has consistently been among the Top 10 strongest teams in the world for the past 10 years. Notably, the outstanding achievement in the 2022 season saw the Vietnamese MOS team reach first place overall in terms of medal count for the first time in history.
Vietnam wins 3 world medals at the 2023 Office Informatics Competition . Participating in the final round of the 2023 World Office Informatics Championship, the Vietnamese student delegation won 1 Silver Medal, 2 Bronze Medals, and ranked among the Top 4 and Top 6 in the world.