Aga Khan Academy in Hyderabad, India to be Inaugurated

Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, September 2013 - The Aga Khan Academy in Hyderabad is a new, not-for-profit school situated on a 100-acre campus near the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. It will be inaugurated  by the Union Minister of Human Resources and the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in the presence of His Highness the Aga Khan, founder and Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network.

"A new school," His Highness the Aga Khan has said, "looks to a better world, for it exists to help students develop the character, intellect and mental resilience that will enable them to prosper in circumstances that we can only imagine." A great school, the Aga Khan said, "will educate its students not merely to be personally successful but also to use their gifts to build their communities and enhance the common good to levels beyond our dreams."

The Academy is the second in a global network of day and residential schools being established across South and Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The Academy provides talented girls and boys from all backgrounds with an all-round education of the highest international standards. Students are admitted based on merit, and a substantial number of full and partial bursaries are offered, ensuring that socio-economic status does not limit access.

The aim of the Aga Khan Academy, Hyderabad, is to develop home-grown leaders with a strong sense of ethics and civic responsibility, who will contribute to India’s future. By intentionally bringing a diverse group of students to study and live together, the Academy aims to help build understanding and respect across diverse sectors of society.

The Aga Khan has also said that it is his hope that graduates of the Academies “will be members of this new generation who, driven by their own wide knowledge and inspiration, will change their societies.”

The Academy is committed to excellence in all aspects of education. The campus reflects this commitment to excellence. It was purpose-built on land generously donated by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. Based on the widely-recognised International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum, the Academy’s programme has been designed to promote academic excellence, leadership skills, social responsibility and a pluralistic outlook. Students develop an understanding of both global and local issues, and are encouraged to use critical thinking skills and creativity to find innovative solutions to problems. The strong co-curricular programme ensures all-round development by balancing academic demands with sports, cultural activities and community life.

Each Aga Khan Academy incorporates a Professional Development Centre for teacher training and curricular innovation. The Centre in Hyderabad functions not only for the benefit of the Academy but, through its outreach programme, extends modern teaching and learning methods to government and other not-for-profit schools locally and regionally. As an agency of the AKDN, the Aga Khan Academies are able to access expertise to enhance teaching and learning from within the Academies network as well as from other AKDN agencies.

Graduates of the first Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa, Kenya, have gone on to some of the best universities in the world, many with substantial scholarships.
 
For further information, please contact: 

In Hyderabad: 

The Aga Khan Academy 
Survey No:1/1, Hardware Park 
Maheshwaram Mandal, R. R. District, 
Hyderabad 500 005, Andhra Pradesh 
Tel: +91 40 6629 1310 
email: admissions.hyderabad@agakhanacademies.org  
www.agakhanacademies.org/hyderabad  
www.akdn.org/academies  

NOTES

The agencies of the AKDN are private, international, non-denominational development organisations. They work to improve the welfare and prospects of people in the developing world, particularly in Asia and Africa. While each agency pursues its own mandate, all of them work together within the overarching framework of the Network so that their different pursuits interact and reinforce one another. The AKDN works in 30 countries around the world and employs approximately 80,000 people. The AKDN’s annual budget for non-profit development activities is approximately US$ 600 million. The project companies of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) generate revenues of approximately US$ 2.3 billion annually. All AKFED surpluses are reinvested in further development activities.