High Commissioner for India visits the Aga Khan Academy Dhaka

On Sunday, 28 August 2022, His Excellency Mr Vikram Kumar Doraiswami, High Commissioner for India, was welcomed to the Aga Khan Academy Dhaka by the Aga Khan Development Network Resident Diplomatic Representative for Bangladesh His Excellency Munir M Merali. During the visit, H.E. Mr Doraiswami was accompanied by Second Secretary (Projects & Acting Director, IGCC) Mr Shubham Yadav and Second Secretary (Education) Mr Rajinder Singh.

During his meeting with the Academy students, H.E. Mr Doraiswami discussed the importance of a good education as a requisite to participate in a globally integrated modern economy. As part of his engagement, H.E. Mr Doraiswami invited the students to consider pursuing higher and specialised education at some of the leading institutions in India.

In a meeting with the Academy's faculties, H.E. Mr Merali introduced H.E. Mr Doraiswami to staff from India. He also met with the participants a part of the Academy's Teacher Preparation Programme, which consists of local graduates who will train to become International Baccalaureate (IB) certified teachers and spend part of their programme at the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad in India, where they will be mentored by skilled IB teachers and gain hands-on knowledge inside and outside the classroom. This is the first programme of its kind to be held in Bangladesh and it speaks to the Aga Khan Academies' broader objective to strengthen local resource capacity through world-class programming for both faculty and students of the Academy.

After touring the campus and meeting with the staff and students, H.E. Mr Merali and H.E. Mr Doraiswami discussed potential areas of collaboration to improve the quality of education and teaching in Bangladesh. Areas discussed included facilitating Bangladeshis selected to train at the Academy in Hyderabad, India and the Indian High Commission offering to provide language, arts and cultural programmes for the students at the Academy in Dhaka. On behalf of AKDN, H.E. Mr Merali conveyed his appreciation for the support accorded by the Indian government and local state authorities to the Network's activities in India and thanked the High Commissioner for gifting two sets of sanitising machines and reading books to the Academy. AKDN forum members also met and appreciated the visit of the delegation of the Indian High Commission to the Academy.