A network for the future
How the Aga Khan plans to help build a better world with a network of IB World Schools
A desire to create “leadership of a different kind” lies at the heart of an ambitious plan by His Highness the Aga Khan to introduce a new network of schools in developing nations.
Prince Karim al-Hussayni, Aga Khan IV, is the Imam, or spiritual leader, of the world’s Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims and one of the world’s foremost Muslim figures. His Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) works to empower individuals and communities across Africa, South and Central Asia, the Middle East and beyond through its social, economic and cultural development activities.
AKDN’s educational institutions include more than 300 schools and the Aga Khan University, which operates in 11 locations in Pakistan, East Africa and the United Kingdom.
The network will now be extended to include a number of flagship Aga Khan Academies, an integrated network of IB World Schools teaching all three IB programmes. The first Academy opened in Mombasa, Kenya in 2003. Work is currently underway in Hyderabad, India; plans have been developed for the Academies in Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uganda; and sites have been acquired in Bangladesh, Madagascar and Syria. The network will eventually include a total of at least 17 Academies.
The Aga Khan’s deep interest in education has characterised his half-century in the role. He believes “there is no better investment that individuals, parents and the nation can make than an investment in education of the highest possible quality… an education must equip students with the tools that enable them to adapt, and thrive, in a world characterised by change.”
The Academies will help meet this goal by taking the IB curriculum into a dynamic learning environment, in countries where high-quality education is in short supply. The Academies will be open to gifted students regardless of background or ability to pay, and an emphasis will be placed on recruiting as many local students and teachers as possible. Each Academy will house a Professional Development Centre (PDC) that will conduct outreach programmes to enhance the quality of teaching regionally.
“He wants to establish institutions which will set new standards and avoid the risk of developing nations becoming educational backwaters. They are to have the highest objectives in terms of quality of leadership, standard of teaching, architecture and equipment”.
Monique Seefried, President of the IB Board of Governors/Jeffrey Beard, Director General of the IB, recognises the resonance between the IB and the AKDN: “The Aga Khan Academies create a powerful opportunity to make the ethos of the IB widely accessible to teachers and students in parts of the world where our reach is currently limited. The Academies draw on AKDN’s extensive experience in the developing world and the Muslim world, and this will be enormously beneficial to the IB’s work in curriculum and professional development.”
Robert Edwards, advisor to the Academies, believes the development network and the IB ethos go hand-in-hand. He says His Highness is attracted to the IB because it is “a recognized and respected international standard, with a resource base of people who really understand curricula,” while the community elements of the IB programmes are key to meeting the Aga Khan’s goals of developing individuals who are able to build a better world, and encouraging pluralism and religious understanding.
“His Highness believes the world requires leadership of a different kind and that means a different kind of institution,” adds Robert. “In every society, the top is pulling away from the bottom and in many ways the developing world is falling behind. His Highness sees these schools as the core to developing viable future societies”.
“He wants to establish institutions which will set new standards and avoid the risk of developing nations becoming educational backwaters. They are to have the highest objectives in terms of quality of leadership, standard of teaching, architecture and equipment”.
“They will establish standards of intellectual quality by taking young people at a formative time – but they won’t just become intellectual factories… they have to develop moral and responsible people, too. Teachers and students need to show a profound awareness of the society they are in, as well as a sense of justice. His Highness is passionately concerned about a world that could get itself into serious trouble.”
Find out more
To find out more about the Aga Khan Development Network, visit www.akdn.org