A new and free educational option to prepare for in-demand technology careers is now available in the US for those enrolled on the DACA program thanks to OpenClassrooms – a global online educational platform based in Europe.
With its expansion into the US market, OpenClassrooms has launched its “Dream On” initiative, which enables DREAMers to pursue lifelong education with a premium solo membership, which provides unlimited access to all OpenClassrooms’ courses, free of cost.
For eligible DACA students, the membership will last three months, with the option to renew, free of charge. About 690,000 undocumented immigrants were enrolled in DACA as of September 4, 2017.
Learning opportunities offered to prospective students are available for the following career paths: iOS Developer, Android Developer, Ruby Developer, Front-end Developer and Product Management, enabling students to launch careers in technology fields like such app development, software engineering and others.
“I believe that lifelong learning knows no borders, no barriers and should require little beyond a strong sense of self-discipline, hard work and dedication in order to succeed,” said CEO Pierre Dubuc, who co-founded the company when he was only 11 years old.
“With OpenClassrooms’ launch in the US, it is our mission to extend high quality, flexible, skills-based education to everyone, and our ‘Dream On’ program is an excellent example of our dedication to make education accessible to everyone, regardless of community or origin,” he asserted.
“It is our mission to extend high quality, flexible, skills-based education to everyone”
OpenClassrooms offers more than 1,000 courses and more than 40 online degree programs that combine online education with a human element through a personalised mentoring program, via weekly internet chats and access to an online community.
“It is important to us as an organisation to support and provide equal learning opportunities to everyone across the globe,” explained Dubuc.
Currently, 100% of OpenClassrooms’ graduates are employed globally, and all of them were able to obtain positions relevant to their completed course paths within six months of graduation. Graduates of OpenClassrooms are employed in more than 100 countries worldwide.
The France-based company aims to help fill a skills gap of approximately 627,000 technology jobs in the US that are unfilled.
For DREAMers, it will help them find employment anywhere in the world – even if they have to leave the US in the future.
As we have previously reported on The PIE News, the Trump administration has threatened to annul the DACA program which grants protection from deportation to residents of the US who were brought to the country as children without legal right to reside.