Living on Campus
Residential life at the Academy complements and extends the academic experience. The residential programme includes a broad selection of activities and leadership opportunities to enhance students’ learning and growth.
The Academy's residential programme officially opened in April 2009. Our student residences have been designed to accommodate students and dorm parents, who are teachers who have been chosen carefully and trained to live in the faculty apartments in the student residences.
Up to four students share a room. The rooms are spacious with high ceilings and large windows. Facilities include a student lounge with a breathtaking view out to sea and a large-screen television along with laundry facilities.
The Commons building houses the dining hall and an array of spaces for school activities. It is the hub of student activity and serves as the main space for major school functions, including music and drama performances and public lectures.
“The tour of the residential facility gave me a great sense of fulfillment,” said Bernard Dudi, a teacher and dorm parent. “I appreciate the amount of planning and resources and the thoroughness of the execution.”
Learning beyond the classroom
The culture of the Academy is based on respect, integrity, honesty, fairness, empathy and good humour. Our students, teachers and administrative staff create and sustain this positive learning environment.
The experience of our pluralistic learning community is especially rich for students in residence given the constant interactions among students, faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds.
The focus of the residential programme is on students’ intellectual, social, spiritual and physical growth in a structured and ethical environment. In the words of Aziz Batada, a former dorm parent, “The residential experience allows the typical school day – where the vision of the Aga Khan Academy is continuously being lived – to be extended, and education itself is seen as a part of every moment of an individual's life.”
Teacher Professional Development
Promoting excellence in teaching and learning, both on campus and more broadly, is a fundamental goal of the Aga Khan Academies. Each Academy has a Professional Development Centre (PDC), which strengthens the profession of teaching in the region by investing substantially in teachers’ professional development.
Developing strength in teaching
We identify and develop teachers of the highest quality who are committed both to the all-round development of young people and to their own professional growth as excellent teachers.
Our PDC supports excellence in teaching by promoting best practices in teaching and learning. We provide ongoing, collaborative training for Academy faculty as well as outreach programmes for teachers and head teachers from neighbouring government, private and not-for-profit schools. Our faculty members also have the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues across the globe and to teach abroad within the Aga Khan Academies network.
Learning at the PDC
Progamming at the Academy’s PDC began in June 2010 with a course from the Professional Learning for Educators Series (PLES). The PLES programmes are designed by the Aga Khan Academies. They respond to the need to improve the standard of teaching and learning identified during extensive market research and interaction with government and departments of education.
The series includes programmes for teachers in various subject areas as well as specialised programmes focusing on skills and understandings related to education. We build professional competence by enhancing teachers’ subject knowledge and by examining how to teach that subject effectively. Each programme provides participants with a balance of intensive learning activities followed by an extended period of assisted application and observation within their own classrooms.
Strengthening curriculum and community
Through our professional development provision, we help create a professional community of competent, well-resourced teachers. These teachers will continue to support and collaborate with one another on resource development, by sharing best practices, and in establishing diverse academic, cultural and social projects.
Teacher Professional Development
Promoting excellence in teaching, both on campus and more broadly, is a fundamental goal of the Aga Khan Academies. Each Academy has a Professional Development Centre (PDC), which strengthens the profession of teaching in the region by investing substantially in teachers’ professional development.
Developing strength in teaching
We identify and develop teachers of the highest quality who are committed both to the all-round development of young people and to their own professional growth as excellent teachers.
Our PDC supports excellence in teaching by promoting best practices in teaching and learning. We provide ongoing, collaborative training for Academy faculty as well as outreach programmes for teachers and head teachers from neighbouring government, private and not-for-profit schools. Our faculty members also have the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues across the globe and to teach abroad within the Aga Khan Academies network.
Outreach programmes
Our outreach progamming includes a course from the Professional Learning for Educators Series (PLES). The PLES programmes are designed by the Aga Khan Academies. They respond to the need to improve the standard of teaching and learning identified during extensive market research and interaction with government and departments of education.
The series includes programmes for teachers in various subject areas as well as specialised programmes focusing on skills and understandings related to education. We build professional competence by enhancing teachers’ subject knowledge and by examining how to teach that subject effectively. Each programme provides participants with a balance of intensive learning activities followed by an extended period of assisted application and observation within their own classrooms.
Strengthening curriculum and community
Through our professional development provision, we help create a professional community of competent, well-resourced teachers. These teachers will continue to support and collaborate with one another on materials development, by sharing best practices, and in establishing diverse academic, cultural and social projects.
International Exchanges
As the network of Aga Khan Academies becomes established, we will offer our students the opportunity to broaden their experience through exchanges with other Academies.
The Aga Khan Academy, Dar-es-Salaam will include an international exchange programme as part of the Senior School curriculum. This will provide our students with the opportunity to study for an extended period in another of the approximately 18 (planned or currently under development) Academies in Africa, South and Central Asia, and the Middle East.
Campus Life
Students from Dar-es-Salaam who go on exchange to another Academy will live in residential facilities in a safe, secure campus setting.
Campus life is an important part of the international exchange programme. Many of the least tangible but most important elements of an education—the development of practical leadership skills, the capacity to make ethical judgments, the ability to navigate through complex cultural settings—are formed outside the classroom. Mealtimes and other informal gatherings offer opportunities for discussion, meetings, language tables and study groups.
Benefits of Study Abroad
The International Baccalaureate programme will be implemented at all Aga Khan Academies. The common curriculum will allow students to study abroad without facing uncertainties regarding compatibility of course study or examinations.
While English is the medium of instruction at all Academies, our students are required to study another language as well. Foreign language learning will be greatly enhanced by immersion in that language through the exchange programme.
Students will also learn to appreciate and respect other nationalities, cultures and intellectual traditions through direct contact with people in other countries. They will broaden their worldview and learn to be at ease in multicultural settings.
For further information on the educational programme offered at the Aga Khan Academy, Dar-es-Salaam, please visit the Academic Programme page.
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.
Aga Khan Academies Alumni Update
Aga Khan Academies Alumni Update
Thank you for visiting the Aga Khan Alumni page. We want to be sure we have your current information so that we can stay in touch.
We ask that you kindly fill out the information request below. Rest assured that your personal information will remain confidential and will be for the Academy’s purposes only.
We are looking forward to hearing from you!
Advait Surana: Academy football champion represents Telangana state
“I always wanted to play, but I never got a chance to in my previous schools. One of the reasons I joined the Academy was its sports facilities.”
Advait Surana is a residential grade 10 student at the Aga Khan Academy in Hyderabad. He was selected as one of 18 students from different schools to represent Telangana state at the national U-15 football tournament in Delhi in early September 2016. This was the first time that Telangana reached the quarter finals, where they lost to Haryana who eventually went on to win the cup.
Advait, who started taking football seriously after he joined the Academy two years ago, underwent rigorous training and practice before the national tournament. He had first been observed while representing the Academy at a Rangareddy district football competition.
“My goal is to participate in the U-18 in a few years,” said Advait. “I haven’t thought about playing football professionally after that, but it is an option.”
Advait aspires to become a software engineer. As part of his International Baccalaureate grade 10 personal project (an independent and practical exploration in which students connect classroom learning engagements with their own experiences and interests), he is building a mobile app that has riddles and puzzles for all age-groups.
However, sport is always on his periphery. When asked why he thinks he was selected, he declared with confidence: “I practiced a lot, and I think I deserved it. I think I was better than the other kids.”
The Academy is incredibly proud of Advait’s achievement, as testament to our commitment to holistic education and the development of student talent across the board, in both academic and extra-curricular activities.
Nanjiba Sayara: Teaching students in Bangladesh to recycle plastic
My desire was realised through the grade 10 International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP) personal project, a community project that focuses on service learning through practical exploration and a cycle of inquiry, action and reflection. As part of my personal project, I went to a village school in Bangladesh where I taught a group of about 20 students how to recycle plastic bottles, and the importance of such an activity. I chose to focus on this, because recycling plastic is needed to keep our environment safe and it’s a fun activity that would keep the students interested. Please click here to see a video of my experience at the village school.
I was privileged to work with those students, as they were very enthusiastic to learn and contribute. Spending one day with children from different backgrounds made me a better communicator. My parents and I have always believed that extracurricular activities are as important as academics because they contribute to being a balanced individual. I am happy to have done this activity at the village school because it made learning enjoyable and therefore memorable.
The IB MYP personal project was challenging, educational and exciting. My parents always ask me to share my happiness and knowledge with others because it might brighten up someone’s day. I believe my session at the village school accomplished this, so I wish to continue sharing my knowledge, what I have learned and will continue to learn, with my society.
Gitika Joganpally - aspiring journalist intent on service and action
Welcome
Welcome to the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad! I hope this website will capture your imagination and give you some insights into this remarkable school. We are part of a global network of schools unleashing the potential of young people! Inspired by the vision of His Highness the Aga Khan, we offer world-class education to exceptional students of all backgrounds or financial circumstance.
Our graduates are reflective, compassionate, adventurous and creative. They go on to excellent universities around the world as confident global citizens empowered to make a positive contribution in a changing world. Our curriculum is challenging, engaging and experiential – allowing students to find their strengths and develop their passions. Our state-of-the-art campus has exceptional facilities in a beautiful natural environment.
An Academy education combines the very best features of a high academic challenge with a unique approach to the enrichment and personal development of young people. We prepare our students for exams and we equip them to earn a living, and we do all of these things with rigour which nurtures the potential and achievement of each individual. Yet the education we offer is designed to go far beyond these goals; to develop the whole person and not just a part; to help each individual to become, in the words of our mission statement, "fearless learners who are culturally-rooted and internationally-minded.”
Visitors discover a friendly and dynamic atmosphere here – there is a determination to succeed, to enjoy life, to enjoy each other's company and, most importantly, to discover that there is far more in each of us than we think!
Dr Jonathan Long
Head of Academy
