Some Hong Kong Baptist University students will be able to attend a free online Google Career Certificates Program in the school year starting September as the university works with the tech giant to provide courses to train students' in-demand digital skills and problem-solving skills.

With the scholarship offered by Google Hong Kong, Year 2 students of the university's Bachelor of Arts, Science, and Technology (Hons) in Individualized Major (BAScT) program will have free access to courses of Google Career Certificates Program 2023 in the 2023/24 academic year to earn credentials for in-demand skills.

Students from the university's BAScT program, launched last September, hope that the Google program can broaden their academic horizons and enrich their job opportunities upon graduation.

First-year student Ella Yu Man-wai said: "Taking the Data Analytics Certificate of the Google Career Certificates Programme 2023 as an example, it provides us with analyzing and data visualization skills that are highly in-demand across numerous industries nowadays."

The program will be included in two of the students' core courses "Transdisciplinary Problem Solving I & II", a year-long curriculum allowing students to find solutions to solve real-world problems.

BAScT students can also study other courses of the Google program and gain certificates, including digital marketing, e-commerce, cybersecurity, IT support, or IT automation at their own pace.

The school will organize tutorials, field trips, progress-sharing sessions and reflective discussions for students to learn to apply the IT knowledge to real-life problem-solving.

Nick Zhang-yin, assistant professor in journalism and program director, believes the collaboration with Google Hong Kong will enrich students' learning experience and results.

"In order to face local and global challenges nowadays, we hope our students can learn how to understand complex issues, develop executable ideas and provide systematic solutions," Zhang said.

Michael Yue, Google Hong Kong general manager for Sales and Operations, said they were delighted to join hands with the university to help students cultivate their problem-solving and analytical skills.

"We believe that students who possess transdisciplinary problem-solving capabilities can also unlock more career opportunities in the future," he said.

HKBU joins hands with Google to develop digital skills