The Aga Khan Curricular Strands (AK Strands) are a unique part of the programme offered by the Aga Khan Academies. The AK 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, the Aga Khan Curricular Strands, that we believe are important for our students. These are:

• Ethics
• Pluralism
• Cultures (with an emphasis on Muslim civilisations)
• Governance and Civil Society
• Economics for Development

Implementing the AK Strands

The Aga Khan Curricular 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 AK 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 AK 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 AK 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 AK Strands in practice

The Aga Khan Curricular Strands have been developed and tested over several years at the Aga Khan Academy Mombasa. This has led to new ideas and creative methods of teaching.

For example, teachers in different departments are using the AK Strands to collaborate in interesting ways. In one project, year 7 students worked on a unit that related to Governance and Civil Society in both humanities and English. They linked their theoretical understanding of authority structures to their study of the novel, The Giver.

They looked at questions of governance, freedom of choice, security and related ethical questions through the lenses of both subject areas. This allowed for a unique learning experience that was both broad and deep.

Through the Aga Khan Curricular 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 Mombasa please visit the Academic Programme page.

The Aga Khan Academies are an integrated network of about 18 residential schools in 14 countries in Africa, South and Central Asia, and the Middle East. They are dedicated to expanding access to the highest standard of education for exceptional young men and women, regardless of their ability to pay.

The Academies are more than just residential schools that strive to give their students a sound academic foundation. Each school emphasises the importance of academic excellence while instilling in students a sense of civic responsibility, leadership skills, and the desire, ability, and commitment to give back to their communities locally and globally.

The Academies are grounded in an educational approach that measures success not just by academic achievement, but by how students apply what they know to make the world a better place.

Students receive a grounding in ethics and also develop openness towards difference and acceptance of pluralism by living in diverse communities. As the network of Academies develops, both students and teachers will participate in visits and exchanges to Academies in other countries and regions.

Aims of the Academies programme

Our programme aims to:

• build inquiring, tolerant and creative minds
• empower gifted individuals, including girls, to innovate and lead
• over time, educate a cohort of well-trained local leaders with a sound ethical outlook and great intellectual capacity
• establish a global learning community across diverse geographic, social, economic, religious and tribal boundaries by providing needs-blind and merit-based admissions
• develop highly trained and effective educators
• positively influence education broadly across the targeted regions of the world, with measurable impact.

“The Aga Khan Academies aim to create ethical leaders with a strong sense of civic responsibility who will go on to the best universities in the world, pursue careers of their choice and…become leaders in the governments and the institutions of civil society in their own countries, in international organisations and in all those institutions, academic, economic and artistic that create positive change in our world.”

His Highness the Aga Khan (Mombasa, December 2003)

Embedded in our programme, the Aga Khan Curricular Strands (AK Strands) aim to strengthen understandings and outlooks needed by leaders of the future. 

They encompass five critical areas of study:

• Ethics
• Pluralism
• Cultures (with an emphasis on Muslim civilisations) 
• Governance and Civil Society
• Economics for Development.

The AK Strands examine issues of global importance and are also tailored to the cultural context of each Academy. This allows students to engage with international issues and challenges while remaining strongly grounded in their local context.

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.

The Aga Khan Academy Maputo follows the principles of the International Baccalaureate (IB) and is preparing to become an authorised IB World School. 

The International Baccalaureate is a non-profit educational foundation, motivated by its mission to create a better world through education.

The three IB programmes for students aged 3 to 19 help develop the intellectual, personal, emotional and social skills to live, learn and work in a rapidly globalising world.

Aims of the IB Programme

Founded in 1968, the International Baccalureate currently works with 3,423 schools in 141 countries to develop and offer their programmes to over one million students.  

Their 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."

The IB is more than its educational programmes and certificates. At heart they are motivated by a mission to create a better world through education. 

They value their hard-earned reputation for quality, for high standards and for pedagogical leadership. They achieve their goals by working with partners and by actively involving stakeholders, particularly teachers.

The three programmes are:

Primary Years Programme

The Primary Years Programme (PYP) 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) 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) 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 please visit the IB website.