Prince Rahim Aga Khan and Princess Salwa Visit the Aga Khan Academy, Mombasa
The MYP Personal Project Exhibition
Student Leadership
The Academies’ programmes aim to develop students who are ethical, public-minded and who possess a pluralistic outlook. Both curricular and enrichment activities work to educate effective home-grown leaders who are actively engaged in their local communities and are aware of the implications of their actions. Through their participation in enrichment programmes, students are encouraged to take on leadership positions in a variety of different forms (e.g. house leaders, student council, team captains, dorm duties).
Not only do these opportunities provide an environment to explore and enhance skills such as cooperation and problem solving, they also enable students to set personal goals and challenge themselves. Student leadership activities vary from community service opportunities to sports and expressive arts. Students have opportunities to participate in the Student Representative Council (SRC) and other similar activities.
"The conviction that home-grown intellectual leadership of exceptional calibre is the best driver of a society’s destiny, underpins the Ismaili Imamat’s endeavour to create catalytic centres of educational excellence." Leadership activities instil in participants a sense of community ownership, creativity and a collaborative spirit, and prepares them for a lifetime of active engagement and leadership.
Student leadership in action:
Student Representative Council: The SRC is made up of students from all year levels, year 6 to second year Diploma Programme (DP2). Two DP2 presidents oversee the entire body, while first year Diploma Programme executive members oversee various subcommittees. These subcommittees include: academics, action, expression, citizenship, houses, finance, and residential. Click here to read news from the SRC.
Year 10: As part of the leadership programme, the year 10 students participated in a very successful Zawadi Bazaar by running eight socially responsible business stalls. Read the full story here.
Year 9: Students engaged in an exciting project to improve cohesion between the Junior and Senior Schools, as well as to raise house spirit. Read the full story here.
Leadership in Action - Year 10
As part of the Entrepreneurship Unit of the Leadership Programme, students in each mentor group had to conceptualise and implement a socially responsible business venture. This involved several weeks of preparation including brainstorming, writing a business proposal and planning the budget.
Experiences such as these are designed to give students concrete opportunities to experiment with and develop their social entrepreneurship skills. The young entrepreneurs were highly effective in involving the local community in their projects with most products sold being sourced locally. The students also sought to get Mombasa businesses and organisations directly involved in their projects.
For example, one group created “The Water Bottle Project”, a business initiative designed to promote recycling, and worked closely with Wildliving Resources, a local organization which promotes sustainability. Another mentor group teamed up with Springbreak, an NGO promoting social entrepreneurial skills, and used more than half of the profits generated by their business to buy and donate 10 solar lights to families in the town of Mavueni who had no access to electricity.
Year 10 student, Rabia Dhanani, sums up the experience in her end of unit reflection: “[The] Leadership Programme this semester was very informative and a fun filled learning experience as well. I enjoyed the unit of social entrepreneurship mostly because it was more practical. I learnt a lot during Zawadi Bazaar because it was the time when I had to use everything I had learnt, which was awesome, and it also taught me how to diplomatically deal with customers.”
Leadership in Action – Year 9
Each form group in year 9 was designated a year 5 or 6 group in their respective house. The newly formed groups then participated in team building exercises such as sports, quizzes and even a treasure hunt. The students seemed to greatly enjoy the activities and the result of the experience was very positive. Therefore, we hope to have more interschool activities of this nature to follow.
Available videos
The International Baccalaureate featured the Aga Khan Academies and our approach to creating home-grown leaders as part of their 50th anniversary commemoration. Watch to learn how the Academies work to transform the communities in which they are located.
The Aga Khan Academies are a global network of schools that produce future leaders who are ethical, effective and pluralistic.
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