Tanya Kakkade: Chasing Big Dreams
Limitless opportunity and a chance to excel can provide the motivation for even the young to do whatever it takes to improve their lives. Grade eight student Tanya Kakkade believes that her education and growth at the Aga Khan Academy, Hyderabad will enable her to pick and choose from the top universities in the world.
The attraction of those possibilities drove her to leave her previous school in Chennai and come to Hyderabad. “I’d always wanted to join a residential school, but the Academy hadn’t been built last year and no grade eight program. This school has a lot of opportunities once you finish; it has a good way of learning and gives you leadership qualities.”
She likes the fact that the AKA doesn’t just focus on education and career development but also on becoming well-rounded adults, encouraging students to participate in a number of activities. Tanya also enjoys being able to try new things at the school during her free time and participating in clubs that will help her in the future, including theatre and publications.
“I want to become a layer; I enjoy fighting for rights and arguing. I can imagine myself getting out of school and getting a lot of job offers or applying for top universities.”
While Tanya left her family behind in Chennai, she hasn’t felt that going to school in Hyderabad has been particularly challenging.
“The school is like a family, so you don’t always miss home [and] they never make us feel homesick. My parents miss me a lot but they say that it’s for [my] education and the AKA is the best school so [they] sacrifice a little fear for [my] good future.”
With her passion for human rights, it’s obvious that Tanya has the makings of a successful professional in the legal field. “I’ve not decided yet, but I’d like to become a business lawyer. I always wanted to go [overseas], maybe apply to a lot of universities and pick from the best.”
In Tanya’s mind, regardless of her future plans, her experiences at the Aga Khan Academy have begun to give her a foundation that she can be proud of.
Virtual Open Days
Visiting a school is usually all about the people; being able to get a sense of the teachers who will be guiding and nurturing your child, seeing the current students and trying to envisage your child amongst their new peer group! Whilst that is not possible at the moment due to the global pandemic, we at the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad still very much want to meet you. As a group, we have put together a video that will allow you to meet the team and gain further information about the school through the website.
Our Virtual Open Days (VOD) aim to give you an introduction to the Academy, but we also understand there is plenty left to discuss beyond the information provided and the staff is eagerly looking forward to speaking to you in person. The event is being hosted by the Admissions team and each session is divided into a virtual tour of the school hosted by our students and members of staff, followed by a Q&A with our leadership team.
Register to join one of our upcoming Virtual Open Days!
Click here to express your interest to be a part of our Virtual Open Days in February. Our Admissions team will get back to you when the dates are confirmed.
The Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad is a special place, where a sense of community and family runs through everything that we do. We hope this Virtual Open Day gives you an idea of our vision, our people and our campus. We look forward to welcoming you in person in the near future. We hope to #SeeYouSoon!
For further information, please feel free to reach out to our Admissions team
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Dining Services
The Academy's dining services provide a varied menu throughout the week. We aim for meals to be nutritious and delicious and for mealtimes to be an important aspect of Academy life. We are committed to providing balanced meals.
See below the lunch menu for the week.
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Identifying Talent to Produce Home-Grown Leadership
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Aman eyes Asian glory after twin national gold in cycling
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AKA Hyderabad architect to receive Padma Shri award
Dr. Bimal Patel, winner of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1992, will be conferred the prestigious civilian award for his contributions to urban design, urban planning and academics.
Tanzanian Girl Shines in Mombasa Table Tennis Tourney
Tanzanian paper, Sunday News, talks to rising table tennis star and Year 8 Academy student, Sara Alidina.
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Photography Workshop at AKA, Hyderabad
Award-winning photographer Fredric Roberts led a week-long workshop at AKA, Hyderabad for 20 students selected from the Academy and a local Aga Khan Foundation education programme. The students, and some of their teachers, learned professional techniques which they used to take pictures at the Academy and at nearby AKDN projects. See some of their pictures here.
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Mombasa teachers on exchange programme in Hyderabad
We welcome three colleagues from our sister Academy in Kenya! We hope Bernard Dudi Akech Ongati, Kepha Obiri Mogere, and Enitta Adhiambo Olang have as wonderful a time here as our own three faculty had in Mombasa over the break.
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The Junior and Senior Schools
The Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad is made up of two schools, the Junior School and the Senior School, which together cater to students from grade 1 (age 6) to university entrance.
Junior School
All Junior School students follow the International Bacaalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP). Through the PYP, our students learn to be confident, independent and creative learners.
The Junior School building has been designed to address the needs of younger children, with age-appropriate facilities and classrooms. In addition to the PYP classrooms, the building contains the Junior School library, and music, art and information technology rooms. There are also large playing fields and a playground.
Senior School
Students in the Senior School pursue either the IB Middle Years Programme or the IB Diploma Programme. Those from the local area can choose to attend as day students, while those from other parts of the country or region live on campus as part of the residential programme.
The Middle Years Programme is for students in grades 6–10. It helps them master essential skills and knowledge, and teaches them to be critical and analytical thinkers. The Diploma Programme is offered to students in the final two years of school. It is an internationally recognised and demanding programme that prepares students for university entrance.
The school caters to both the intellectual and personal growth of students. It has a wide range of facilities that include:
- laboratories for the sciences and information technology
- art and music rooms
- library and resource centre
- career counselling centre
- student and teacher lounges
- cafeteria and dining area.
The building is networked so that computers become common resources for teachers and students. The multipurpose hall can be used for a variety of events ranging from theatre productions to parent–teacher meetings. The school also has swimming facilities as well as playing fields for soccer, field hockey and athletics.
For further information about applying to any of the programmes offered at the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad, please refer to the admission requirements.