At the Aga Khan Academy Mombasa, Ham Serunjogi – CEO and co-founder of African fintech giant Chipper Cash – realised the importance of staying connected to something larger than himself. The Forbes 30 Under 30 honouree is now serving as an advisor to the US President on African diaspora engagement.
International football camp: 8-19 October 2018
80 students from grades 6-11 are participating in an intensive residential football camp organised by the Aga Khan Youth Sports Board, run by four seasoned professional coaches from UK and Canada.
Aga Khan Academy Mombasa's IB Graduates Excel
The Coastweek reports on the celebration of achievements of AKA Mombasa's 2017 graduating class.
Class of 2018 Graduation
We will be celebrating our DP2 class on Saturday 19 May. We wish them all the best in their future endeavours!
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Aga Khan Academy Dhaka construction - December 2018
See our latest photo gallery and aerial drone footage showing progress on the construction of the Aga Khan Academy Dhaka – December 2018
Salim Bhatia, welcome address at AKA Hyderabad & Mombasa graduation
Yamini Nibhanupudi (Class of 2014) - Looking at activism through a filmmaking lens
In an honest commentary on the creative process, filmmaker Stanley Kubrick said, “I do not always know what I want, but I do know what I don’t want.” The philosophy behind this method can be extrapolated to the lives of creatives, who wear many hats on their way to becoming who they are. Yamini Nibhanupudi graduated from the Academy in 2014 having focused on maths and sciences in the Diploma Programme. Since then she has roamed the highways of academia, always preferring the scenic route. She studied social sciences, stopped along the way to dabble in research and policy work, and ultimately discovered a passion for filmmaking. “For me,” she says, “deciding to stay in India and continue a life here is the best decision I made.”
Following her high school graduation, Yamini joined the Tata Institute of Social Science, Tuljapur, enrolling in their School of Rural Development. Here she studied political science, gender studies, history and sociology. During this time she worked with the Foundation for Democratic Reforms in Hyderabad, a think tank dealing with policy making. She also interned with Aga Khan Rural Support Program at Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh, working with farmers and marginalized communities. “I always wanted to work with people who spend every single day without any resources at their disposal, to work on the pressing issues that exist in India, issues that most of us never see through our rose tinted glasses.”
“I never lived under the illusion that I would be able to improve the lives of people in India,” she says, adding, “I would like to, but I honestly wouldn’t know where to start.” Writing her final paper as an undergrad, she realized how she could authentically contribute to society. Yamini wrote her dissertation on ‘Gender Roles in the Telugu Film Industry.’ As she delved deep into the paper, she recognized her long held passion for film. She was accepted by TISS Mumbai’s School of Media Studies the same year.
Her choice was validated almost immediately, getting to work at a production house in Mumbai at the end of her first year, and then winning a competition to get a one-minute silent film funded. “A Mute Point” was then screened at the 16mm Film Festival. “It’s been quite a ride since graduating in 2014,” she says looking back, “and I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way.” She is on track to graduate with a Master’s in Media & Cultural Studies in May 2019.
Yamini is a strong proponent of public and government universities. She believes that they are the gateway to a range of education opportunities available in India, and creates an avenue to meet people from across the nation. “I think most people who go to IB schools don’t see India as a viable option to study for their years in university,” she says. “Unfortunately, most of them never truly realise the kind of exposure that you can receive here.” She later adds, “A lot of people might argue that they would gain more exposure and a better understanding about the rest of the world by going abroad. But they have never stepped out of their city in India and a lot of them rarely have friends out of their social class or caste in the country. I've been lucky to learn from wonderful people about the work they've done or that they intend to do with their lives, and India in itself has such wonderful and diverse cultures that I would probably never have ever been exposed to had I studied elsewhere.”
90% of graduates from the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad have gone on to study abroad, and several students join the IB programme explicitly to have the opportunity to study in the West. Yamini says that an IB education is more than that, and that an education at the Academy was more significant to her than just a stepping stone. “IB teaches you to think critically, and to question everything,” she says. “In a country where rote learning is so persistent, it existed as a breath of fresh air for me.”
“The Academy prepared me for a lifelong affair with academia,” she confesses. “I learned to love research to the extent that I have considered going into teaching and pursuing a PhD.” Yamini is quick to add that her experiences at the Academy go beyond just education. “Being part of a community like this, which continues to check up on its alumni, and which still continues to be there for us years after we have graduated, is an immense source of pride.”
Students and professors at TISS take social activism to be an integral part of being an educated member of society and are involved in forcing change on their campuses, their cities and their fields. “I've learnt my place in this country from both a social and political standpoint,” says Yamini. “If I look back at 2018, I can see the fight that so many people have been a part of, whether it is about caste issues, the landmark judgement scrapping section 377, to the horrific [Transgender Persons] bill of 2018 that was passed, marginalising the very community it was meant to protect. I see my peers around me fighting every day and I can do nothing but support and document them.” Using her passion for filmmaking, Yamini hopes to make a responsible, self-aware contribution to these movements. “I would like to be able to tell their stories with them, with their permission, and with their direction. I know for a fact that I can’t, and in fact shouldn’t be their voice, but I can do everything in my power to back their voices.”
Yamini’s education has been broad and diverse, incorporating the complexity of sciences, the gentility of humanities and the adroitness of cinema. But unlike the Kubrik-ian creative littering the highway with discards, she uses detours to inform her work and her personality. “I never really had any clarity about what I wanted to do,” she says, "but now that I do, I’m pushing towards it with all the energy in me.”
Written by Ajay Sundaram
Publications
Aga Khan Schools University Counselling Handbook 2023-2024
AKA Mombasa IB School Profile 2022-2023
AKA Hyderabad IB School Profile 2022-2023
The Aga Khan Academy Maputo
The Aga Khan Academy Maputo
AKA Maputo Quick Facts Sheet (ENG and PT)
Aga Khan Schools Annual Publication 2021
The Aga Khan Academy Dhaka
The Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad
The Aga Khan Academy Mombasa
Excellence in Education
Excellence in Education
Excellence in Education
Alumni
Education at its best facilitates positive growth in all domains – intellectual, social, physical, ethical and spiritual – leading to the well-rounded development of the child. The Aga Khan Academies aim toward this ideal, and the values they espouse are reflected in each school’s aspirations for its students.
The vision for Aga Khan Academy graduates
Students at an Academy pursue a well-balanced education combining intellectual inquiry, academic excellence, sporting and cultural activities, and a grounding in ethics and moral reasoning.
They are committed to rigour and self-discipline in their studies and subscribe to the principles of intellectual honesty in the preparation of their work.
Read more here.
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Interested to know more about our graduates? See spotlights on our alumni
Video: AKA Hyderabad Class of 2019 Graduation Ceremony
74 students of the Class of 2019 concluded their International Baccalaureate journey at the Academy with a formal evening ceremony on Saturday 25th May attended by fellow students, alumni, Academy senior management, faculty and staff as well as parents, extended families and invited guests. These students join a growing legacy of global young leaders, driven by the Academy’s unique curriculum and approach to education. The graduation marks a proud milestone of 1,000 such leaders across both the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad and its sister school, the Aga Khan Academy Mombasa (Kenya).