French Students Teach Themselves In A New Computer School

21 Sep 2013

Paris’ new computer school is overwhelmed by some 60,000 applicants. The school, named ‘42’, was found by a telecom magnate who aims to reduce the shortage in computer programmers in France while giving a new chance to the people who have fallen by the wayside.

For the next month some of the 4,000 potential students who already passed the cognitive skill tests online will be staying at the campus. These people have to clear the next step where they are confronted for 15 hours a day with computer problems. Nicolas Sadirac, 42’s director said that only 800 students be placed.

A Demand For Thinkers of Any Class

Sadirac says that it is very, very intensive, and it is a kind of selection for the long term, and that is the reason that they do not just do an examination. He said that they spend four weeks choosing every student.

The single criteria for applying in ‘42’ is to be aged between 18 and 30. The applicants do not need to have money or a particular level of academic achievement. One thirds of the applicants do not even have a high school diploma.

Sadirac says they are looking for how students think rather than how much they know. One of the main goals of ‘42’ is to unravel the talent from downtrodden areas where kids do not fit into the regular academic mold of France.

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