Coursera CEO Jeff Maggioncalda.
DOHA: Coursera, a US-based massive open online course provider noted that Qatari learners using the platform have been increasing steadily for the past years.
In an interview with The Peninsula, Coursera CEO Jeff Maggioncalda said that the number of Qatari learners on Coursera to date is 100,000 and the average age is 35 years, which is older than the global average. He attributed this data as there are older professionals in the country.
Meanwhile, the top three courses in which Qataris are enrolling are: Foundations of Data from Google; followed by English for Career Development from University of Pennsylvania; and Science of Wellbeing from Yale University.
“They are all pretty much business-oriented courses, I think the business people in Qatar are using Coursera the most,” Maggioncalda said. The growth rate of Qatari learners is 28 percent year-on-year, higher than the global average.
Currently, Coursera has at least ten business customers in the country that are using the platform to upskill the expertise of their employees including Qatar Investment Group, Qatar Development Bank, Al Jazeera Media, and Ooredoo.
The Coursera CEO said the pandemic had ushered in a new era where online learning can be mixed with on-campus learning.
“There are new opportunities for people to learn that they never had before, and also many of the jobs in the highest demands are the jobs you can do remotely.”
“I know as well that in Qatar, many of the most educated students go abroad to work because there are so many job opportunities outside Qatar, but the kinds of jobs that are now available — digital jobs can often be done remotely, so I think there is a world not only can we bring the best international learning programmes from universities and industry to students in Qatar, we can also bring jobs from abroad so Qataris can stay here and still have an access to the world of job opportunities because of the amount of hybrid and remote work that is happening,” Maggioncalda said.
