Students participate in city-wide run
Children's Theatre Festival comes around again
Senior School elects student council presidents
Theatre circle performs at Ravindra Bharathi
A tête-à-tête with an ex-student
Zara Amjad: From first-day jitters to confident leader
International Baccalaureate
The International Baccalaureate (IB) is a non-profit educational foundation, motivated by its mission to create a better world through education. IB programmes for students aged 3 to 19 help develop their intellectual, personal, emotional and social skills to live, learn and work in a rapidly globalising world.
The Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad has been authorised as an IB World School offering the IB Primary Years, Middle Years and Diploma Programmes.
IB World Schools share a common philosophy – a commitment to improve the teaching and learning of a diverse and inclusive community of students by delivering challenging, high quality programmes of international education that share a powerful vision.
Aims of the IB programme
Founded in 1968, the International Baccalureate currently works with schools in 144 countries to develop and offer their programmes to over one million students.
The IB mission statement declares:
"The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. To this end the organisation works with schools, governments and international organisations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment. These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right."
Primary Years Programme
The Primary Years Programme (PYP) at the Academy, for students aged 6–10, focuses on the development of the whole child, addressing social, physical, emotional and cultural needs, while giving students a strong foundation in all of the major areas of knowledge. Through the PYP, children become aware of and sensitive to the points of view of people in other parts of the world.
Middle Years Programme
The Middle Years Programme (MYP), for students aged 11–16, integrates the study of all the major disciplines, including languages, sciences, literature and the social sciences, mathematics, arts, technology and physical education. The MYP normally includes a service component designed to encourage students to become involved with their communities.
Diploma Programme
The Diploma Programme (DP), for students aged 16–19, is a two-year course of study that prepares students for university. All DP students study languages, a social science, an experimental science, mathematics and, usually, an arts subject.
At the same time as it provides a form of academic passport, the DP generally fulfils the requirements of a student's national education system. Each student's performance is evaluated by independent examiners and measured by his or her levels of knowledge and skills relative to set standards applied to all schools.
For further information about the International Baccalaureate and its programmes, please visit the IB website.
Ruhi Kamal Manek (Class of 2016): Advocating for Africa
Ruhi Kamal Manek, an alumnus of the Aga Khan Academies in Mombasa and now a sophomore at Yale University in the United States, took away one enduring lesson from the Academy: the importance of engaging in thoughtful and careful consideration of diverse opinions. She explains that it was her time at the Academy that forced her to reexamine her old-world views and believes that her new way of thinking as a citizen of the world was borne of her stay in residence at the school:
“Living with people from so many diverse backgrounds helped me appreciate differences in people. This experience further helped me feel comfortable interacting with people from diverse backgrounds and diverse cultures at Yale.”
Ruhi was born in Nairobi, Kenya and grew up in the small town of Eldoret. It was her desire to learn and challenge herself more that made her apply to the Academy.
“I could not think of a better place to do that than at the Academy,” Ruhi states. “Being admitted to the school was the beginning of a transformative journey for me - a defining moment in my academic and personal life.”
The Academy places immense importance on meaningful public service. Ruhi participated in numerous voluntary undertakings but it was involvement in the annual school-based deworming program in the impoverished Bombolulu area of Mombasa that had a lasting impact on her. Under this program, school children receive an oral dose of deworming medicine designed to lower their risk of infection by worms and thus enhance their health and school productivity.
“The experience opened my eyes,” Ruhi says. “The thought that something so trivial as administering a few drops of medicine in a child’s mouth can transform that child’s future was inspiring to me.”
Involvement in this program inspired Ruhi in many ways. Watching the children joyfully engage with life forced her to reflect on values of humility, modesty and gratification:
“As I stood among the children, I felt as though my heart had grown twice as large, making space for these beautiful souls. I was filled with an inexplicable amount of joy as I marveled at the contentment and optimism around me. Despite the conditions in which the children lived and learned, they were radiating with happiness. I was in awe. The whole experience reminded me of a quote by the Buddha: ‘The cessation of desire is the cessation of suffering.’”
After this experience at the Academy, Ruhi continued her volunteer work at Yale. She is part of the TEDxYale team and helps to organize seminars and conferences. She is a member of Yale UNICEF and is involved in fund-raising efforts to make a difference in children’s lives globally. Committed to women’s rights regarding education and leadership roles, Ruhi also joined the Yale chapter of the Circle of Women, a non-profit organization “that educates, inspires and empowers women to become leaders and peacemakers.”
Additionally, Ruhi is involved in developing a wellness curriculum for a girls’ secondary school in Orkeeswa, Tanzania, which promotes the ideas that healthy students are better learners and that focusing on wellness now can produce huge intergenerational benefits.
“My first year at Yale has undoubtedly been enhanced through my participation in activities that I have long been passionate about,” states Ruhi. She unequivocally credits the Academy’s International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum and the residential program for her growth and personal development. “My journey at the Academy was one of the most intense yet fulfilling growth periods of my life. I think it is safe to say that it played a key role in helping me develop the person I am today.”
When asked what her aspirations are for the country of her birth, Ruhi radiates determination. “I want to help redefine the way in which the rest of the world views my country, and more particularly the African continent. I want to be an active agent in ensuring that our stories are no longer told for us but by us.”
She is also determined to promote education in her country. “I want to tackle the issue of the lack of education. I value nothing more than the education I have been so privileged to receive and the many opportunities that have come my way because of it. I wish to help provide the same for as many people as I possibly can in my country of origin and beyond.”
By Perviz Walji
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Introduction to the Aga Khan Academies
In 2000, His Highness the Aga Khan initiated the establishment of the Aga Khan Academies, an integrated network of schools to be located in countries across Africa, South and Central Asia, and the Middle East.
The aim of the Academies is to develop future leaders with the skills and knowledge to support positive development in their societies. The Academies achieve this by recruiting exceptional young people from all backgrounds and providing them with the highest international standard of education.
Admission is based upon merit, with financial aid available to ensure access for accepted students regardless of financial circumstances.
Global network
The first Aga Khan Academy opened in Mombasa, Kenya in 2003, the second in Hyderabad, India in 2011, the third in Maputo, Mozambique in 2013 and the fourth in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2022.
Rigorous academic programme
The academic programme offered by the Academies has been developed according to the principles of the widely-recognised International Baccalaureate (IB). The IB provides a challenging academic environment for students and allows their achievement to be measured against international standards.
In addition to providing a rigorous academic and leadership experience, the Academies help students develop an ethical and public-minded outlook through community service opportunities and education on ethics and pluralism.
“An education must equip students with the tools that enable them to adapt and thrive in a world characterised by change.”They also recognise that to become effective leaders, students must be both globally minded and locally rooted. Global as well as local perpectives are reflected in the curriculum, and students study in both English and the local language.
Purpose-built residential campuses
Each Aga Khan Academy campus is architect designed and purpose built. They feature state-of-the-art classrooms and resource areas, and extensive sports facilities.
The residences provide secure and well-supervised accommodation for local and international students as well as those visiting from another Academy. As the network develops further, both students and teachers will participate in visits and exchanges between Academies to broaden their experience and practical understanding of pluralism.
Professional development
Promoting excellence in teaching, both on campus and more broadly, is a major goal of the Academies. Each Academy is established as a Professional Development Centre (PDC). The PDC aims at strengthening the profession of teaching in the region by providing substantial professional learning opportunities and modelling highly effective educational practice.
