84 students graduate from the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad

The Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad celebrated its fifth Graduation Ceremony at its 100-acre campus near Shamshabad/RGI Airport on Saturday 19^th May 2018.  84 students of the Class of 2018 concluded their International Baccalaureate journey at the Academy with a formal evening ceremony attended by fellow students, Academy senior management, faculty and staff as well as parents, extended families and invited guests.

The Chief Guest was H.E Mr. Ambassador Arif Lalani. Ambassador Lalani is the Head of the Department of Diplomatic Affairs for the Ismaili Imamat in Lisbon, Portugal. He also sits on the Board of Directors of the Centre for International Governance Innovation, based in Canada. Ambassador Lalani has served the Canadian government in several different roles for over a decade. He is a recipient of the following awards: Alam Sayad Jamal-u- Din al Afghani medal, for his contribution to Canada-Afghanistan bilateral relations; the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal for service to Canada and Canadians; and an honorary PhD - Doctor of Letters, from the Canadian University Dubai.

The Academy was privileged to welcome such a renowned global citizen to Hyderabad to address its graduating alumni, particularly since the mission of the Academies is to raise ‘homegrown leaders’ through service and stewardship who will make positive contributions to their future society and change outcomes across the developing world. Ambassador Lalani spoke to the graduating class about his own journey, that started as a young refugee fleeing the coup d'etat of Idi Amin, to being one of the first Muslim ambassadors of the Canadian government. Circumstances, the kindness of strangers, and the pluralistic environment he grew up in all contributed to his present status, he explained. Further, he told the cohort that the cosmopolitan ethic they had been surrounded by, and the focus on pluralism at the Academy, would equip them like no other graduating class for the world they would face. 

The 2018 Graduation Ceremony was particularly auspicious, for it fell during the Diamond Jubilee year of His Highness the Aga Khan, which celebrates 60 years of His Highness being the spiritual leader of the Ismaili community. “Academy students have benefitted directly from his vision, commitment, and immense generosity,” said Salim Bhatia, Director of Academies in his address to the Class of 2018. “When the foundation stone for the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad was laid, His Highness said: ‘Specialised expertise, pragmatic temperament, mental resourcefulness – these are increasingly the keys to effective leadership, along with a capacity for intellectual leadership, which keeps one’s mind constantly open to a variety of viewpoints and welcomes pluralistic exchange. In such a world, the most important thing a student can learn is the ability to keep on learning.’”

Graduates will join the growing number of Academy alumni who have achieved remarkable success in both Academy results and university placements. The Aga Khan Academies benefit from a unique partnership with the Province of Ontario in Canada that provides talented Academies graduates in financial need with tuition waivers to attend Ontario institutions of higher education. This programme provides life-changing opportunities for these students, who have received financial support from the Aga Khan Academies during their earlier education. In Ontario, the students help enrich and add diversity to their university communities through their talents, values and global experiences. Over the next five years, the Province will provide tuition waivers for up to 100 new students.

Alumni scholarship awards are notable, valued at approximately $17.7 million across five graduating cohorts. After 5 years, 269 alumni, 980 offers, over 150 universities in 11 countries, the Academy is steadily moving towards its goal of raising global citizens who are strongly anchored in the locally rooted dimension of an Academy experience, able to tackle the challenges of today’s world with exceptional ability.

Click here to watch a short video on the graduation ceremony!

Written by Kamini Menon