The Aga Khan Academies is looking to enhance its offerings to its graduates, in an effort to improve communication and aid these individuals as they launch into the working world. As a result, The Aga Khan Academies invites you to be part of the inaugural career mentorship initiative. It is through this one-on-one mentorship programme that we hope to connect AKA mentees (graduates) with professional mentors (alumni/other professionals). We would like for students to be able to do the following with a mentor:

• Discuss potential career choices/moves.
• Get experience that complements and gives them context to their academic pursuits.
• Practice industry-specific, transferable & self-management skills.
• Guidance to improve chances of landing jobs.
• Increase self-awareness and understanding of how to contribute to the work world.
• Expand career options by learning job search strategies.
• Exchange knowledge, insights, and experience with a mentor.

The career mentorship program would run a year in cycle, with an opportunity to renew your capacity as a mentor, if you so desire. In order to make the appropriate career matches, and understand your availability and commitment, we have a few questions to help us with the pairing process.

We ask that you kindly fill out the information request in this form (click here) 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!

AKA Alumni Office 

Access the questionnaire here

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.

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As the Director of Academies, I have been entrusted with His Highness’s extraordinary vision for the Academies as a global learning community, where young people develop the capacity to become future leaders of civil society.

The underlying idea of the Aga Khan Academies network is to concentrate substantial resources on those exceptional individuals – students and teachers – who have the potential to transform society. When provided with a world-class education, exceptional students from any background can achieve their significant potential and in so doing improve their lives, the lives of their families, their communities, their country and the world. 

At this time, we envisage a network of approximately 18 campuses across 14 countries that, when fully developed, will be teaching 14,000 students.

Each Aga Khan Academy will reach out to students of all backgrounds, regardless of culture, race, religion or financial circumstance.

The Academies follow the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum, ensuring a global standard of educational excellence and external validation through the annual IB Diploma exams.

The Academies also work to enhance the quality of teaching, the base on which good education rests. Each Aga Khan Academy will provide professional development programmes for teachers and school leaders from within the Academy as well as from government and other schools.

The students in our existing Academies are already achieving exceptional results across domains spanning academics, athletics and the arts. And our alumni, many of whom attend leading universities around the world, are demonstrating a deep sense of social responsibility and a commitment to return to serve their home countries.

Ultimately, we hope that the qualities of good leadership – sound moral judgment, self-discipline, a pluralistic outlook and civic responsibility – are the qualities that will distinguish Aga Khan Academy graduates.

"Our goal, then, is not to provide special education for a privileged elite – but to provide an exceptional education for the truly exceptional." His Highness the Aga Khan (Hyderabad, September 2006)I invite you to explore our website further to learn more about the Aga Khan Academies and the unique and innovative programme they offer.

With warm wishes,

Salim A.L. Bhatia
Director of Academies