Singapore’s first teacher-less Computer Science programme to launch at SUTD by end 2022

The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and Ecole 42 in France will be launching a teacher-free Computer Science programme for students by the end of 2022.

The new programme will be called 42 Singapore, and is the first partnership between Ecole 42 and a local autonomous university.

Supported by SkillFuture Singapore (SSG), it will offer modules in the fields of coding, data science and more to help develop tech talents for the booming digital economy.

“We believe the 42 Singapore programme will provide an alternate pathway to train a highly-skilled talent pool of programming experts and address the manpower shortage in the digital arena,” said SUTD President Professor Chong Tow Chong.

There will be no formal lessons, textbooks and teachers in the programme, and students will learn at their own pace advancing stage-by-stage through project-based learning, peer-to-peer learning and gamification.

This provides students freedom in deciding their specialisation without compromising key concepts and strategic thinking skills. They will also not be required to complete the module together with the rest of the cohort.

42 Singapore will be accessible for everyone aged 18 and above, regardless of their academic background and professional coding experience. 

Enrolment will be done through one or more admission exercises in a year. SUTD plans to admit up to 150 students in a year, and about 450 in three years.

Students in the 42 Singapore programme will also be part of Ecole 42’s global network of 36 campuses.

Applicants will be admitted based on merit and assessed on their performance at the ‘Piscine’ (French for ‘swimming pool’) where students spend four weeks in immersion to find out if the 42 method is suitable for them.

As they learn tech skills, they will also pick up soft skills such as teamwork and leadership along the way as they eventually decide to specialise in cybersecurity, cloud computing, machine learning and more.