Aga Khan Academies Student Exchange Programme completes its fifth cycle
The Aga Khan Academies Student Exchange Programme completed its fifth cycle from 13 January to 29 March, with over 45 students from the Academies in Mombasa, Kenya, Hyderabad, India and Maputo, Mozambique spending one semester abroad on different campuses.
The programme was launched in 2018 for Grade 9 students from the Aga Khan Academy Mombasa and the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad. The students had the opportunity to travel and stay in another Academy and country where they developed skills of becoming global, pluralistic and well-rounded individuals by taking part in several activities and excursions. In 2020, the programme was expanded to the Aga Khan Academy Maputo.
The programme aims to contribute to the Academies’ mission of developing future leaders with the skills and knowledge to bring positive change to their societies. It gives students the chance to explore the requirements of successful leadership by understanding how they can work among diverse populations and cultures to exchange knowledge and ideas.
During the Exchange, students attend classes, participate in school activities, service learning and off-campus excursions, and engage in special Exchange-related sessions. Some of the activities students took part in this year included hikes, beach trips, formal nights, island trips, historical journeys and much more.
“I love how the culture of the city is unique, and with so many outings to places like Fort Jesus and Lighthouse, the culture has really been infused within the students here on this programme,” said Sri Anirudh Duddilla Sripadarao, an Exchange student from the Academy in Hyderabad who travelled to the Academy in Mombasa. “The community here is also inclusive; interacting with students from Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and many more countries has been an enlightening experience. I would like to say the Academy in Mombasa has some of the best cultures and diversity I have ever seen.”
Students also had informative enrichment sessions which allowed them to reflect on their trips and challenged them to think differently as inclusive citizens. Near the end of the programme, the Grade 9 participants presented their learnings in a capstone project – a culmination of the adventures they embarked on and the lessons they learnt over the 11 weeks.
“I have seen such remarkable growth in the students,” said the Aga Khan Academies International Exchange Programme Manager, Eva Muriuki. “The way they think, the way they see the world and themselves now has changed significantly and for the better. I am confident their pluralistic outlook, in general, has grown, and this is evident in their capstone projects and how they responded to them, as well as the friendships and interactions I have witnessed among them.”
The Aga Khan Academies look forward to the next Student Exchange Programme, which will take place from January to March in 2025.
publications
