According to an official statement of the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK), the UAE capital will be launching the first GCC campus of the internationally renowned 42 Network of coding and computer programming schools early next year.

A major enabler in Abu Dhabi’s strategic vision to create a diverse and inclusive education infrastructure that empowers and enables a future-ready workforce, 42 Abu Dhabi will welcome students in February 2021. The new campus is an initiative of 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 to support business, innovation, and people.

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 in the heart of the UAE capital’s historic Mina Zayed warehouses district.

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, including in Jakarta, Tokyo and Seoul. 42 Abu Dhabi, the first of its kind in the GCC, will eventually accommodate up to 750 students per annum once it is fully operational.

“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 Her Excellency Sara Musallam, chairman, ADEK. “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.”

The latest bilateral milestone in the strategic UAE-France relationship, 42 Abu Dhabi follows both nations 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 His Excellency Khaldoon Al Mubarak, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Affairs Authority, and co-chair of the UAE-France Strategic Dialogue.

The UAE-France Strategic Dialogue has played a principal role in institutionalising UAE-France bilateral cooperation across mutual areas of interest.

Underlining the ongoing bilateral ties shared by France and the UAE, His Excellency Ludovic  Pouille, the French Ambassador to the UAE, added, “It is no secret that the UAE and France have an extraordinary history of collaboration and shared ambitions in areas such as culture, technology advancement and multi-sector industry development. In strengthening the strategic bond between our countries, 42 Abu Dhabi will deliver an innovative education benchmark to further enhance our nations’ productive bilateral relations for years to come.”

Operating a project-based, problem-based and peer-to-peer learning methodology endorsed by global tech luminaries including Evan Spiegel, co-founder & CEO of Snapchat, Jack Dorsey, co-founder & CEO of Twitter, Keyvon Beykpour, co-founder & CEO of Periscope, and Brian Chesky, co-founder & CEO of Airbnb, amongst others, 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, CEO, 42 Network.

The school’s fully trained coding cohorts will significantly expand the ecosystem of skilled practitioners to propel private and public sector development, since 42 Abu Dhabi students will learn to master soft skills, creativity, problem-solving, collaboration, communication, as well as how to work in teams according to Majid Al Shamsi, director of Higher Education Business Development at 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 18 years and above, and can register now at 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.

For more information, visit 42AbuDhabi.ae