42 Abu Dhabi celebrates a year of empowering coders

42 Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital’s innovative and disruptive coding school with a unique peer-to-peer, gamified learning methodology, recently celebrated its first birthday. The School emphasized its remarkable accomplishments in empowering learners to shape Abu Dhabi’s digital future by making coding education accessible to people from all walks of life.

42 Abu Dhabi has enrolled 340 students, including 100 UAE nationals, since its inception in October 2021. The School is open 24 hours a day, giving students ownership of their learning journey through its peer-to-peer model, with flexibility being a key pillar of 42 Abu Dhabi’s learning methodology.

42 Abu Dhabi worked with leading organizations and companies in a variety of industries and sectors to identify and develop opportunities that contribute to its success. As a result of the school’s successful network of partners, 358 job and internship opportunities were offered to 42 Abu Dhabi students this year, including 109 sponsorships for UAE national students.

Dr. Ahmed Al Shoaibi, Acting Executive Director- Higher Education Sector at Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) said: “One year ago, we launched 42 Abu Dhabi under Abu Dhabi’s Ghadan 21 accelerator program to complement the emirate’s world-class educational ecosystem, and introduce the school’s unique learning methodology to the Emirate education ecosystem. Today we mark a new milestone of making coding education accessible to people from all walks of life”.

“In one year, we have made impressive strides toward realizing Abu Dhabi’s strategic vision to create a diverse and inclusive educational experience that empowers a future-ready generation of lifelong learners who can lead our future knowledge-based economy. 42 Abu Dhabi has seen huge demand, boasting impressive enrollment figures. We have also developed a strong strategic partner network that continues to play a vital role in supporting our objectives in developing our school as Abu Dhabi’s talent incubator, enabling us to foster a culture of entrepreneurship and develop the Emirate’s education sector”, he added. 

Marcos Muller Habig, Acting CEO of 42 Abu Dhabi, said: “Today, we reflect on 42 Abu Dhabi’s journey in successfully being an agent of change. We will continue to break the limits of traditional learning by implementing our peer-to-peer model, where we enable our students to acquire coding skills through our project-based, gamified independent learning methodology. This is coupled with our unwavering efforts to bring 42 Abu Dhabi future coders together through engaging events that build on the 21st century skills required to decode their potential, opening the door to infinite possibilities and making significant contributions to realising the vision of Abu Dhabi”. 

“Our successful journey over the past year emphasizes 42 Abu Dhabi’s influential role in fostering a digitally aware and driven generation of coders who are technically skilled and push the limits of digital innovation. This year, we achieved our target of providing sponsorships for every UAE national student in 42 Abu Dhabi. In the upcoming year, we will work on expanding our partners’ network to ensure that we continue to provide sponsorships and stipends for every UAE national that joins our school,” he added.

The anniversary celebration was attended by 42 Abu Dhabi’s students and staff. During the event, 42 Abu Dhabi organized digital activations to engage attendees and foster interactions between the students, including a Motion Vending game, Digital Caricaturist, 360 Photo Booth and a Scavenger hunt. 

Students were encouraged to reflect the school’s pride and success by highlighting their favorite aspects of 42 Abu Dhabi on a dedicated wall, which also included 45 selected quotes from their peers. This served as an inspiration for the event’s attendees and enhanced the sense of belonging among the 42 Abu Dhabi community. 

42 Abu Dhabi honored the students who have gone the extra mile to develop their skills and excel over the past year, as well as its exceptional staff. In addition, the school recognized the winner of the 42Art competition, which was established ahead of the event to empower 42 Abu Dhabi’s students to showcase their artistic talents and skills by creating and submitting digital art pieces. 

42 Abu Dhabi is an innovative and disruptive coding school, launched in 2020 as an initiative of the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) and Abu Dhabi’s Ghadan 21 accelerator program, which aims to drive Abu Dhabi’s ongoing development through multi-faceted investments in business, innovation and people.