World Bank Country Director visits the Aga Khan Academy Dhaka

The World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan Dr Mercy Tembon visited the Aga Khan Academy Dhaka on 5 April 2022. During the visit, she was accompanied by the Resident Diplomatic Representative of the Aga Khan Development Network His Excellency Munir M Merali. She highly admired the state-of-the-art teaching, learning and sporting facilities while touring the classrooms, labs, central courtyard and the Maidan. The Academy’s distinctive architectural finesse captivated her and she was ecstatic about the experiential magnitude of the new campus's prospective students.

She also met with the Teacher Preparation Programme (TPP) participants, the first of many teacher development workshops to be held as part of the Academy's Professional Development Centre.

“I am thrilled to see so many brilliant young professionals participating in this programme,” Mercy said. "I want to convey my best wishes to all of you who will become teachers in the future. This is a genuinely prestigious profession and I have immense respect for the people who have chosen to embark on this noble path. I want to thank the Aga Khan Academy Dhaka for organising such a wonderful event.”

The TPP assists local educators in becoming International Baccalaureate (IB) certified teachers within 18 months, with evaluations conducted by the University of British Columbia in Canada, a global partner of the Aga Khan Academies. This is the first programme of its kind to be held in Bangladesh and it speaks to the Academies' broader objective to strengthen local resource capacity through world-class programming for both faculty and students of the Academy. While all participants obtained a total of 63 hours of training and development, a select group of six individuals will be invited to participate in the programme, which includes travelling to the Academy’s sister school – the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad in India – where the participants will be mentored by skilled IB teachers there and gain hands-on knowledge inside and outside the classroom. 

Mercy was duly impressed by the programme and the participants' spontaneity and apparent passion, as well as their commitment to fostering lifelong learning and global citizenship. She indicated a strong desire to return to the Academy and participate in future events.