KATHMANDU, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Microsoft Office Specialist Examination (MOSE) has started in Nepal for the first time, The Himalayan Times reported on Saturday.

MOSE, which will help people get Microsoft certification for desktop skills to meet workplace requirement, officially launched in 1997, is a Microsoft certified program that would test and certify candidate skills in MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and Project.

According to the daily, the examination is already available in 118 countries and has become a basic work place requirement to authenticate computer proficiency.

Joe Tun Sein, consultant, examination division, Orient Longman (OL), India, who is visiting Nepal, notified that 85 percent of current jobs require computer support, and the MOS certification will authenticate the skills.

He was quoted by the daily as saying, "The certification has become mandatory for job placement in many parts of the world. The examination system introduced in Nepal would capacitate Nepalis to meet the workplace prerequisite throughout the globe."

It will certify candidates, who appear and get through the examination, with a global standard. It would be beneficial to students, teachers, academic institutions, workforce and employers.

Four authorized test centers are established in the capital Kathmandu to conduct the MOSE, the report said.

According to Tun, the plan is to establish 10 centers in Kathmandu soon. "A minimum of 1,000 students are expected to appear in the exam before November," he added.

An hour long exam will test the performance of candidates based on concurrent exam technology.

The OL is the authorized distributor of the certification in the Indian sub-continent.