Abu Dhabi to get free international coding and computer programming school in 2021

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi will open the first GCC campus of the renowned 42 Network of coding and computer programming schools in early 2021.

In a statement, the emirate’s education regulator – the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (Adek), announced that the school will welcome students in February 2021.

The school’s campus will be purpose-built, and located in the Mina Zayed warehouses district. It will be able to accommodate upto 750 students once fully operational.

The new campus will be built under Ghadan 21, Abu Dhabi’s three-year government accelerators programme that aims to fast-track the emirate’s economic transformation through investments in the economy, knowledge, and community.

An innovative and disruptive coding school built on the philosophy that everyone deserves the opportunity to explore their talent, the purpose-built 42 Abu Dhabi campus will offer a revolutionary approach to divergent and gamified learning.

42 Abu Dhabi will follow the tuition-free model of coding and programming education pioneered by French billionaire Xavier Niel, who founded the Network’s inaugural campus in Paris, École 42, in 2013. In only seven years, the expanding 42 Network of schools has grown to over 20 globally.

“Establishing 42 Abu Dhabi underlines our commitment to provide next-generation education pathways to strategically upskill and nurture a future-ready workforce on a local and regional level,” said Sara Musallam, Adek chairman.

“By making coding and code-thinking accessible to people of all levels and abilities, 42 Abu Dhabi embodies the emirate’s vision for a tech-enabled business ecosystem, and contributes to our leaders’ vision to build a secure and confident society that is competitive, sustainable and open,” she added.

The latest bilateral milestone in the UAE-France Strategic Dialogue, which has played a principal role in institutionalising the two nations’ bilateral cooperation across mutual areas of interest, 42 Abu Dhabi follows both countries recently reaffirming their long-term commitment to enhance innovative exchange in sectors including culture, education, advanced sciences, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, medtech and agritech.

“Our strategic partnership with France has always emphasised education, expertise exchange, and technology and innovation, with particular focus on those specialties that contribute to the UAE’s long-term growth and economic diversification. 42 Abu Dhabi is an outcome of that shared ambition,” said Khaldoon Al Mubarak, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Affairs Authority, and co-chair of the UAE-France Strategic Dialogue.

Operating a project-based, problem-based and peer-to-peer learning methodology, 42 Abu Dhabi students will learn at their own pace and develop through collaboration and creativity.

“The 42 Network aims to contribute to the development of an open and ethical world, without discrimination and without boundaries in terms of generation, culture or geography. As a pioneer of digital schools, we are moving ahead with the 42 Network while staying true to our DNA and the values we promote, without compromising on the excellence of education. In Abu Dhabi, we have found the perfect partner to expand our mission and values to a new world of coders across the Arabian Gulf,” said Sophie Viger, chief executive officer at the 42 Network.

42 Abu Dhabi’s fully trained coding cohorts will significantly expand the ecosystem of skilled practitioners to propel private and public sector development, with students learning to master soft skills, creativity, problem-solving, collaboration, communication, and teamworking, said Majid Al Shamsi, director of higher education business development at the Adek, and project lead on 42 Abu Dhabi.

“No previous coding experience is required of 42 Abu Dhabi students, however students must be curious, committed, proactive, and creative, and must possess an innate ability to adapt and collaborate. This school will upskill our local and regional talent pool and provide a huge boost to partners in every professional sector who need tech talent to meet the demands of digitisation today and in the future,” said Al Shamsi.

Candidates interested in applying to 42 Abu Dhabi, must be aged at least 18 years. They can register now at www.42AbuDhabi.ae to conduct an online pre-selection assessment which evaluates cognitive capacity via logic and memory tests. Successful pre-selection candidates are then invited to ‘The Piscine’, an immersive month-long program testing motivation, endurance, and commitment. Successful candidates will be invited to join the inaugural cohort of 42 Abu Dhabi after all ‘The Piscine’ assessments are completed.