Photos: This Abu Dhabi coding school will have no fees, classrooms or teachers

An upcoming peer-to-peer coding school in Abu Dhabi will have no traditional classrooms, teachers or tuitions fees. It will remain open 24/7 and students will learn from each other. There will be no courses and students will complete a series of real-world projects as they learn.
Aimed at anyone aged 18 and above, 42 Abu Dhabi will open in February 2021.
The first GCC campus of the 42 Network of coding and computer programming schools will come up in the UAE capital's Mina Zayed warehouses district. It will offer a tuition-free model of coding and programming education pioneered by French billionaire Xavier Niel, who had had founded the Network's inaugural campus in Paris, École 42, in 2013. In seven years, the 42 Network of schools has grown to more than 20 globally.
The Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (Adek) had announced the launch of 42 Abu Dhabi in September.
Inclusivity in coding
Majid Al Shamsi, director of Higher Education Business Development at ADEK and project lead on 42 Abu Dhabi, said: "Through code, we learn how to communicate on multiple levels. Typically, coders or programmers have not been known as great communicators. 42 Abu Dubai will put an end to that stereotype. It is a school for everybody with its collaborative peer-to-peer approach, equipping students with a robust skillset and attributes that are critical for the future of business. Code creates endless solutions and opportunities."
Entry test: Play e-games
The process starts with registration on www.42AbuDhabi.ae. Applicants are invited to play two online games that test cognitive capacity. At this stage, there is no coding. The tests are designed to gauge logic, motivation, thought processing and establish coding potential. Only candidates with aptitude make it through. Memory and critical thinking skills are then assessed as applicants move through the process.
Check in or out
Successful pre-selection candidates are then invited to attend a 'Check-in' - a two-hour virtual information discovery session. Here, they are taken through an introduction to the curriculum and potential life at 42 Abu Dhabi. Prospective students must show ambition, commitment, proactivity, curiosity, and creativity, while demonstrating their ability to adapt and collaborate.
Sink or swim
'The Piscine', French for swimming pool, is an intense, immersive four-week programme designed to test aptitude in computer programming, motivation, endurance, and commitment. It enables students to deep dive into the 42 methodology and learning process and gain real insights into what programming entails. Candidates will work through a series of tests.
Decode your potential - for free
Once accepted, students benefit from the fact there are no tuition fees, while the curriculum covers all aspects of programming across 21 course levels and internships lasting four to six months each. Students all start from the same point, yet as they progress, they have the freedom to branch out and are encouraged to discover a specialist area.
The curriculum offers more than 100 projects. Areas of study include object-oriented programming, mobile programming, functional programming, web security, reverse engineering, kernel programming, network programming, AI, and 3D programming, among others.
ismail@khaleejtimes.com