The Aga Khan Academy Curricular Strands are a unique part of the programme offered by the Aga Khan Academies. The strands are areas of learning aimed specifically at developing knowledge, skills and attitudes required by future leaders.

Our goal at the Academies is to develop young people who have strong local roots and are also globally minded. They should be able to become leaders in whichever fields they choose.

To help achieve this goal, we have identified five areas of learning, or strands, that we believe are important for our students. These are:

• Ethics
• Pluralism
• Economics for Development
• Cultures (including Muslim Cultures)
• Governance and Civil Society.

Implementing the Strands

The strands are not taught as independent subjects. Instead, we weave them into the existing subject areas of the academic curriculum. They help inform the selection of content and themes for study. The strands also provide direction for school life outside the classroom in areas such as policy making, recruitment, student life and residential life.

Two of the strands, Ethics and Pluralism, help students develop values and dispositions required by ethical leaders. Our students learn about these areas in theory and are also encouraged to practice what they learn in their everyday lives.

Through the other three strands, our students learn about ideas that are important to the functioning of societies. In particular, they learn about how these ideas impact people’s lives in countries of the developing world. The knowledge they gain helps them understand key issues from both local and international perspectives.

The Strands in Practice

The strands were developed at the first Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa and are designed to be used in different cultural contexts. Teachers from the Aga Khan Academy, Dar-es-Salaam will help tailor the strands for the local environment in Tanzania.

Through the strands, our students develop attitudes and values that will help them throughout their lives. They also gain knowledge and understanding that will allow them to contribute positively to their societies in the future.

For more information on the educational programme offered at the Aga Khan Academy, Dar-es-Salaam, please visit the Academic Programme page.

The Aga Khan Academy, Bishkek, part of an integrated network [JMC1] of schools located in Africa, South and Central Asia, and the Middle East offering girls and boys an international standard of education from pre-primary to upper secondary levels with a rigorous academic and leadership experience.

Bishkek is targeted as one of the first four complete Academies (in 4 different regions) serving as a test bed of the network of Academies. The first Academy opened in 2003 in Mombasa, Kenya and is the first school in Kenya authorised to offer all 3 IB programmes (PYP, MYP and IB diploma 

The project is progressing...

The market study was completed in September 2008, The Academies Unit and land planning teams have visited two sites and specific parcels of land have been identified and negotiation is underway to establish land ownership.

The initial site visits to the land review zone have provided an important and initial opportunity to

assess the zone in relation to site programming and planning needs. Among these needs to which the land must be evaluated to provide a positive response are:

• Long-Term Expansion

• Access and Accessibility

• Infrastructure Support

• Urban Context

Whilst the evaluation of academy site will include the assessment of the development programme and the ability of the site to physically accommodate the programme in practical terms, design criteria inevitably embrace issues that are more subjective in nature but have important impact to the evaluation process.

• Environment: or the ability of the academy and its surroundings to facilitate the creation of a living and learning environment. In this regards the emphasis is on the quality of the site and not just the adequacy of size.

• Identity: or the potential for the creation of a special “sense of place”. The physical complex of architecture and landscape that will embody an inspirational environment, tangible to the students, faculty and visitors, is in many ways also affected by the surrounding land forms and uses.

• Position: or clarity of location within the surrounding landscape or community.

Admission to the Aga Khan Academy, Dar-es-Salaam, is based on merit. This is broadly defined as exceptional intellectual potential, leadership, a commitment to learning, strong sense of integrity, and the desire to work towards and instigate positive change.

As part of a network of Academies, we aim to provide exceptional students, from all backgrounds, with an outstanding education.

We seek students representing a diverse range of economic, cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds. We look for students who have the ability and motivation to excel academically and who are or will be capable of demonstrating leadership in community service and other co-curricular pursuits.

"In my view, the most important thing a student can learn in any educational institution is the ability to keep on learning."His Highness the Aga Khan (Mombasa, August 2007)We are more than just schools that strive to give their students a sound academic foundation. We emphasise the importance of academic excellence while instilling in students a sense of civic responsibility and the desire, ability and commitment to give back to their communities locally and globally.

Our educational approach measures success not just by academic achievement, but how students apply what they know to make the world a better place.

The overall educational programme is designed to foster students’ curiosity while providing them with the skills and intellectual confidence to engage with what they do not know and find answers and solutions.