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Since 2013, Ecole 42 has been training young people in computer programming for free. Its innovative pedagogy, without hierarchy and lectures, is the pride of Xavier Niel, its founder and main sponsor. Ten years after the creation, we make an inventory.
Capital Video: Xavier Niel’s Ecole 42: Do the results live up to the promise?
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– The school is the pride of its founder Xavier Niel, head of the Iliad (Free) group.
“If we are not able to produce five big successes a year, then we will fail. Then there will be no reason for them to finance us», announced at the beginning of 2015 Nicolas Sadirac, co-founder of the school, two years after opening the first institution in Paris. In March 2013 Xavier Niel and several associates, including Nicolas Sadirac, inaugurated their new school IT developersSchool 42. The founder of Free and owner of Iliad intended to shake up the codes of French higher education, in line with the needs of the market, with a free model, open to all, without a degree or prerequisites.
Over ten years, to train 10,000 students, the founders established a global budget of 100 million euros, which was almost entirely financed by a billionaire in the amount of “6 to 10 million euros per year“, points out Nicolas Sadirac, contacted Main. “The economic model is Xavier’s credit card“, he says. An atypical but winning recipe: the school, UFO in the French education system, quickly became a world reference, described as the best coding school in the world through the CodinGame platform. goal “five successes a year» thus seems largely out of date.
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In addition to seven French campuses (Paris, Lyon, Nice, Mulhouse, Angoulême, Perpignan and Le Havre), “42” is now present in 31 countries, including Germany, Morocco, Madagascar, Brazil, Canada, Australia… 18,000 students are currently training in 42 international . In total, since its establishment, the school has trained 37,000 young people in 51 campuses. The school plans further openings in the coming years, “mainly in developing countries“, she says.
“There are no classes. There is no teacher. No classes”
To join School 42, applicants must pass the “pool” test, a concept to decide between applicants inspired by Epita and Epitech schools, both specialized in IT. During four intensive weeks, candidates must solve programming exercises in order to join the school. The goal: not to drown. Of course, no prerequisites are necessary: no degree, not even computer skills. On the other hand, the school expects the ability to learn, to cope, to adapt, to take on challenges and to be highly motivated. Depending on the school, 35 to 45% of applicants are accepted after selection.
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Training, originally planned for 18-30 years old, today no longer has an age limit, in order to respond even more to lack of encoders and developers in France. The course is divided into two parts: the common core, which must be completed within a maximum of one and a half years, and the second part for specialization, which can last longer. On average, students complete their training after three years.
The specialty of the school is essentially in the way it works. Students do not attend classes under the supervision of a teacher, but organize their own day, training and evaluating each other. Independent learning at school without a teacher. The free course allows young people from humble origins to train in a sector where tuition fees elsewhere can run up to €40,000 a year. A third of them enter school without a diploma, and 46% have never used encryption before joining the training.
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When they leave school, 100% of students are employed depending on the school, including 94% on a permanent contract. Some venture into entrepreneurship (12% of business start-ups), others are recruited into start-up companies, digital services companies or large groups, for an average salary of €47,000 gross per year at the start of their career.
Scandals led to the departure of the director
The story is beautiful, success is here. But the coin has another side, and this one is quite dark. On October 9, 2018, Nicolas Sadirac stepped down as director to be replaced by Sophie Viger. He explains to us that he resigned on his own initiative because “disagreements with Xavier Niel about patronage” and for “generalize pedagogy to as many people as possible», especially through the launch of a new training platform for digital occupations, Zone 01.
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This version of the facts is contradicted by the investigation by the party Mediapart published in April 2019, which reveals that Xavier Niel actually forced the director to resign, under penalty of criminal prosecution. In question are: exhibitionist and macho behavior, excessive supervision condemned by the CNIL, but also embezzlement, cases of excessive billing, offshore accounts, etc.
The abuse extends to the school, where the climate becomes increasingly harmful. The facts of harassment and sexism by students were revealed in 2017New factory, towards which the administration seems to have been quite tolerant. “There has always been sexism in computer science schools where girls are mostly in the minority“, explains Nicolas Sadirac today. It is obvious that School 42 does not have a monopoly on machismo in the digital world, but the article suggests the idea that “innovative pedagogy based on student autonomy“could”the perverse effect of making certain students believe they can afford anything“.
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In July 2018, under pressure from Xavier Niel – who only found out about the existence of these abuses late, according to sources close to the head of Iliad – Nicolas Sadirac therefore resigned as head of the school. But the fall of the principal and co-founder does not mean the death of the school. Trustee Sophie Viger, the school has pledged to right the wrongs of the past, in particular by removing 60 surveillance cameras inside the school (with the exception of those necessary for security) and putting in place an action plan to attract women and “promote the conditions for their success by ensuring they develop a safe and comfortable working environment where they feel respected and supported by the teaching team and their colleagues“. These initiatives seem to have borne fruit as they increased from 7% in 2017 to 22% of female students in March 2023.
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