His Excellency the Minister of Education, the Chairman of the Board Directors of the National eLearning Center Dr. Hamad bin Muhammad Al-Alsheikh launched the BootcampX initiative for skills transformation through the National eLearning Platform “FutureX” in partnership with edX, a world-leading online learning platform, and its parent company 2U .
The BootcampX initiative includes three main pathways. First, a K-12 Pathway designed to equip high-school students with skills in high-demand areas locally and globally. Second, a Higher Education Pathway designed to accelerate the career launch of recent college graduates with intensive skills training in high-demand areas. Third, a Pathway to reskill the workforce to be globally competitive .
The BootcampX initiative will provide comprehensive learning and training opportunities through 3- to 6- month boot camp programs provided by the world’s top universities and companies. The learning and training programs are aimed at high-school and university students, job seekers and the broader workforce. The initiative includes several main areas: Project Management, Data Analytics, Cybersecurity, User Interface Design (UI), User Experience Design (UX), Digital Marketing, Product Management, Web Development, and FinTech. In addition, the initiative focuses on real-world skills, provides intensive programs with end-to- end academic support, and is also industry informed and designed for outcomes.
His Excellency Dr. Hamad Al-Alsheikh clarified that BootcampX is a stimulating initiative for human capability. He emphasized its support for all efforts made by FutureX to achieve integration with different relevant institutions to reach an integral eLearning ecosystem which offers diverse learning opportunities that meet future needs.
Moreover, His Excellency Dr. Hamad Al-Alsheikh stated: “BootcampX ensures skills transformation, efficient collaboration among local and global partners to meet labor market needs and fill skill gaps, as well as reskill and transfer knowledge and lessons learned from global experiences and national learning institutions. We will continue to enable institutions in the Kingdom through FutureX to expand in providing learning opportunities that meet future needs to achieve trusted and high-quality learning content that contributes to achieving the national objectives of human capability development. Also, we are glad to extend our collaboration with edX and 2U as strategic partners. Through this partnership, we aim to support eLearning in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to build a learning ecosystem that provides learning opportunities for all”.
Dr. Anant Agarwal, Founder of edX and Chief Open Education Officer at 2U, said “This partnership is an exciting opportunity to further edX’s founding mission of universal access to the world’s best education . BootcampX will have a meaningful impact in the region.” He added, “Together, NELC and edX will equip people from all backgrounds and experience levels with the critical technology skills to pursue the jobs of the future and help learners transform their lives and communities through education.”
