Educational Philosophy
Education is a creative, joyful process that engenders hope and curiosity. Through a diverse and rigorous curriculum, the Aga Khan Academies strive for the development of the whole person. Academies students will be able to contribute to and positively influence their communities. Through academic, athletic and artistic pursuits, they become lifelong learners and leaders.
Education is most relevant and inspiring when it connects young people to the world around them. By encouraging students to think flexibly and to connect their learning to real issues, the Academies build curiosity, compassion and a desire to make a difference.
The programmes of the International Baccalaureate curriculum have therefore been adapted to the specific environment of each Academy, with students developing a deep grounding in their local context alongside learning about relevant international issues and ideas.
An Academies education engenders a pluralistic and ethical approach to life and leadership.
Diverse educational experiences mean that students develop the willingness to embrace difference, and to learn from it. From the very youngest years, everyone works together to develop a sense of civic responsibility and service.
All students are encouraged to use their understanding and skills to take meaningful and sustainable action that makes a real difference to the lives of others.
"...above all, it is my hope that these schools will stimulate creativity, intellectual curiosity and honest inquiry so that their students can adapt and thrive in a world of rapid change; can make informed judgements on life’s daily challenges, and place those judgements in an ethical framework."
International schools: Enhancing Indian Education System
Zia Chapman: Video Spotlight
Newsletter readers, click here to continue reading the newsletter.
Jemin Patel (Class of 2018): A journey of hard work, passion and striving for excellence
Jemin Patel’s journey to where he is now is the result of hard work and passion, values he picked up during his time at the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad. Yet his story started sometime before this, when he was selected to attend the large, 100-acre Academy through a full scholarship.
Starting in the Academy as a Grade 8 student, Jemin felt all the nervousness of moving to a new place and starting at a new school. He felt out of place, not knowing whether he would succeed. Although he knew this would be difficult, he embraced the notion of working hard, instead of working smarter.
“I’ve learnt that hard work always wins,” he said. “People say, ‘work smart, not hard’. I could not disagree more. Working smart makes you efficient, whereas working hard with a focused mindset makes you a high performer.”
Although it has been five years since he graduated, Jemin continues to visit the Academy to coach and interact with students. He expressed how he felt like a big brother passing on the torch and imparting wisdom he would have loved to have during his time at the Academy. During his most recent visit, Jemin met the founder of the newly formed SAGE (Sexuality and Gender Expression) club at the Academy and felt so proud of the students.
Now, working at one of Canada’s top accounting and consulting firms, Ernst & Young, specialising in audit and assurance services, Jemin still stands by the notion, “hard work always wins.”
“It’s not about perfection, it’s about striving for excellence,” he said. “Putting in a focused and genuine effort into everything you do is all that matters.”
Interview conducted by DP2 student Samhitha Paruchuri from the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad.
Karishma Bhagani (Class of 2015): Making a splash for clean water
Look below for a video of Karishma speaking at the Passion in Science Awards.
Last year, 20-year-old Karishma Bhagani of Mombasa, Kenya was awarded a seed grant at the NYU Reynolds Changemaker Challenge, beating out eight other teams and 46 other projects. Bhagani won the seed grant for an innovative water purification system that makes the most of natural resources in cash-strapped communities that need clean water. Her initiative, Matone De Chiwit, came about as a solution to a problem she noticed: more and more diseases were emerging as a result of fluctuating weather in the country, ranging from floods to drought conditions. She knew that something had to be done.
Matone De Chiwit means “drops of life” in three different languages. Matone means drops in Kiswahili (Kenya), de means “of” in Spanish (Latin America) and chiwit means “Life” in Thai (Thailand). These three languages represent the three parts of the world that suffer the most from clean water scarcity. It also speaks to the global nature of her venture, as Bhagani intends to expand her project to these three regions and beyond.
Aga Khan Academy as an Inspiration
Bhagani is a fourth-generation Kenyan who recently moved to New York City where she is studying drama, history and South Asian studies at New York University. The Aga Khan Development Network has always been a part of her life as she was one of 17 students at the Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa who made up the first class to have been educated from pre-school to IB graduate.
The biggest lesson that Bhagani drew from her education is to be a holistic student. She strives to be as well rounded as possible, striking a balance between a social life, sleep, work and school, all with the goal of making a global impact. This pursuit of balance was inspired by her many years at the Aga Khan Academy.
“I think that at the end of the day what everything comes down to is how we can be citizens of the world and how we can change the world that we live in to make it a better place for ourselves and children that follow us. And part of that also means giving back to your own community,” said Bhagani.
When she was in middle school, she was required to carry out a personal project on something that inspired her. Having noticed the drastic fluctuations of weather and rampant diseases in her country, Bhagani decided that she would come up with an innovative water purification system that uses readily accessible natural resources. Her initiative uses locally available materials – sand, gravel, charcoal and cotton cloth – to purify water for villagers all across Kenya. The initial version of the product also used chlorine tablets called Aquapur. Bhagani received generous sponsorship funding from Davis & Shirtliff, a local water supply company, for donating 20 units to a community to test for effectiveness. “A lot of the families said that the water was ‘tamu sana’ which in English means very sweet,” said Bhagani.
Before Bhagani came up with her product, local families were typically just drinking untreated water, using a lot of energy to boil it on charcoal-heated stoves or using Aquapur chlorine tablets.
Testing and Improving
Through testing and implementation in villages, Bhagani and her partners came to the realization that using chlorine in a plastic container might not be the best idea. These tablets can actually be dangerous to human health — high doses can be potentially harmful as the plastic in the bottles reacts with the chlorine, resulting in the spread of more serious illnesses. So they decided to change it to moringa oleifera, essentially dried seed kernels of drumstick tree powder. Then, she carried out a lot of testing by collaborating with the Coast Water Services Board. She found that the new version worked just as well as the chlorine unit did.
When she was in the IB program at the Academy, she had the opportunity to take her unit to the Golden Climate International Environment Project Olympiad. That’s where she carried out even more research and testing to modify and improve the system. Her project ended up advancing to the national round, then the international round, where she won gold in its category.
It was at this point that she decided to patent the product. She applied before starting at NYU and received the patent while she was a first-year student.
Why Matone De Chiwit?
What sets Matone De Chiwit apart from competitors is that the device is both chlorine-free and cost-effective. Since it’s made up of natural resources common in rural Kenya and other parts of Africa, they can be replaced easily, which means users don’t have to rely on Matone De Chiwit to replenish the filter. Charcoal is easily found and other ingredients, like the drumstick tree powder, can be grown in their backyards. Additionally, Moringa olifeira grows in a variety of climates and doesn’t need much water to grow.
In terms of cost, it’s much cheaper in the long-term than what is currently used. Even so, Bhagani intends to ensure it’s affordable for rural villages by applying for sponsorship and grant funding from large companies all over Europe and North America. Her venture is also bridging the gap from the city to the village, because she is working with people from each of those communities and bringing them together to achieve clean water and sanitation for all.
The Future
With the seed grants that Bhagani recently received, including the Reynolds grant, she plans to carry out her first beta testing. The biggest challenge for her at the moment is having an adequate source of funding to collect data.
“It’s kind of a chicken-and-egg situation because we need more evidence of this product working in practicality in communities so that we can apply for more grants to sustain us, but without the grants it’s difficult to go out into the communities to actually grow these projects with that seed money,” said Bhagani.
With the little funding that she currently has received, she plans to establish the purifiers in at least two or three communities. Bhagani will continue checking on the units to get enough data so she can apply for larger grants and potentially work with philanthropies like the Gates Foundation. She also hopes to conduct more research on its effectiveness through beta testing in communities.
“In five years’ time, I hope to have conducted at least ten beta tests in Mombasa, and have expanded the venture all across Kenya. My intention is to begin applying for larger grants by that time so that we can expand to other countries around the world,” said Bhagani.
Additionally, she plans to collaborate with other Aga Khan academies in Hyderabad, India and Maputo, Mozambique. That collaboration could build on student organizations that can work with the rural communities that they already engage with.
Her long-term plan is to create a sustainable community, which not only bridges the urban/rural divide but also allows families to provide for themselves.
This spotlight is republished courtesy of AKF USA.
The Academy at the Sarit Centre Education Expo
Welcome
Welcome to the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad! I hope this website will capture your imagination and give you some insights into this remarkable school. We are part of a global network of schools unleashing the potential of young people! Inspired by the vision of His Highness the Aga Khan, we offer world-class education to exceptional students of all backgrounds or financial circumstance.
Our graduates are reflective, compassionate, adventurous and creative. They go on to excellent universities around the world as confident global citizens empowered to make a positive contribution in a changing world. Our curriculum is challenging, engaging and experiential – allowing students to find their strengths and develop their passions. Our state-of-the-art campus has exceptional facilities in a beautiful natural environment.
An Academy education combines the very best features of a high academic challenge with a unique approach to the enrichment and personal development of young people. We prepare our students for exams and we equip them to earn a living, and we do all of these things with rigour which nurtures the potential and achievement of each individual. Yet the education we offer is designed to go far beyond these goals; to develop the whole person and not just a part; to help each individual to become, in the words of our mission statement, "fearless learners who are culturally-rooted and internationally-minded.”
Visitors discover a friendly and dynamic atmosphere here – there is a determination to succeed, to enjoy life, to enjoy each other's company and, most importantly, to discover that there is far more in each of us than we think!
Dr Jonathan Long
Head of Academy
International Exchanges
As the network of Aga Khan Academies becomes further established, we will offer our students the opportunity to broaden their experience through exchanges with other Academies.
The Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad includes an international exchange programme as part of the Senior School curriculum. This will provide our students with the opportunity to study for an extended period in another of the 18 Academies (planned or currently under development) in Africa, South and Central Asia, and the Middle East.
An inaugural programme took place in the 2018-19 academic year for grade 9 students at the Aga Khan Academy Mombasa and the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad. The programme will grow over the coming years, drawing in more Academies as they open and giving students the opportunity to experience life in a range of different countries and cultures.
Campus life
Students from Hyderabad who participate in an exchange with another Academy will live in residential facilities in a secure campus setting.
Campus life is an important part of the international exchange programme. Many of the least tangible but most important elements of an education – the development of practical leadership skills, the capacity to make ethical judgments, the ability to navigate through complex cultural settings – are formed outside the classroom. Mealtimes and other informal gatherings offer opportunities for discussion, meetings, and study groups.
The exchange offers a structured programme of activities, both on and off-campus. This is designed to increase students’ understanding of their own and other cultural identities, to recognise different components of culture, to interact with the local community through service learning, and to reach a comparative understanding of the process of development in another country.
Benefits of study abroad
The International Baccalaureate programme is implemented through the medium of English at all Aga Khan Academies. The common curriculum will allow students to study abroad without facing uncertainties regarding compatibility of course study or examinations. Students will also learn to appreciate and respect other nationalities, cultures and intellectual traditions through direct contact with people in other countries. They will broaden their worldview and learn to be at ease in different cultural settings.
The exchange will increase students’ willingness and ability to collaborate across borders and cultures, as they form networks of friendships across the world. It will build the strength of character necessary for ethical and pluralistic leadership. Students will develop greater adaptability and resilience as they learn to overcome the challenges of living in a new cultural setting with local peers.
For further information on the educational programme offered at the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad, please visit the Academic Programme page.
The Times of India: Civil society has to be driven by competence as well as ethics: Aga Khan
In light of the inauguration of The Aga Khan Academy, Hyderabad, The Times of India reporter Ranjan Roy interviews His Highness the Aga Khan and focuses on his unique and forward thinking vision, which includes ethics, free-market economics, and civil society as essential elements of a well-rounded education.
Students create weekly Portuguese newspaper
