Aga Khan University
(AKU) provides post-graduate training of health service
professionals, teachers and managers of schools, and the
development of research scholars. It was granted its charter
in 1983 as Pakistan's first private, autonomous university.
News
Archives
Aga
Khan University's 19th Convocation, 2 November 2006 (link
to AKU's website)
Aga
Khan University's Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations
offers Masters in Muslim Cultures starting September 2006
2004
Progress Report
For
the latest news on developments at AKU, please see News
& Events on the AKU Website.
Introduction
Aga
Khan University (AKU) provides higher education and
develops research pertinent to Pakistan and the developing
world at internationally accepted academic standards. Its
overall mandate is to promote the welfare of the people
of Pakistan and other developing countries.
The
University is chartered
by the Government of Pakistan as an international university
with the authority to operate programmes, branches and campuses
anywhere in the world. An international board
of trustees governs AKU which currently has ten teaching
sites in seven countries.
AKU's Faculty of Health Sciences was planned with the support
of Harvard, McGill and McMaster Universities. It presently
includes a Medical
College and a School
of Nursing, which are located together with their principal
teaching site, Aga
Khan University Hospital, on an 84-acre campus in Karachi.
The University's Institute
for Educational Development is located on its own purpose-built
campus in Karachi. In November 2002, Government of Pakistan’s
approval was obtained through an Ordinance to establish
Aga Khan University
Examination Board to offer affordable, relevant and
high quality secondary and higher secondary school examinations
in Urdu and English to public as well as private schools.
The Human
Development Programme at AKU is dedicated to enhancing
human development through a focus on Early Childhood Development.
AKU is rapidly becoming an international university in response
to the mandate of its Charter, establishing teaching programmes
in Pakistan as well as abroad. At the request of regional
governments in East Africa, and with the assistance of institutions
within the Aga Khan Development Network, AKU has initiated
nursing and teacher education programmes Kenya, Tanzania
and Uganda and is in the advanced stages of final accreditation
by authorities in these countries.
In 2002, the University established its Institute
for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) in
the United Kingdom. The Institute’s goal is to strengthen
research and teaching on the heritage of Muslim societies
in all its historic diversity.
In Syria and Afghanistan, at the invitation of the two governments,
AKU is engaged in providing innovative programmes for capacity
development and technical assistance to aid the development
of teachers and nurses.
Future Development
Further development of AKU emphasises research and graduate
studies, enhancement of the role of women at the University
and in society, and appropriate application of information
technology. In addition to developments underway at the
School of Nursing, University Hospital and the Institute
for Educational Development, the University is in the process
of planning new academic and research units. These include
an Institute of Economic Growth and Society and an Institute
of Planning and Management of Human Settlements. Work on
the new Faculty of Arts and Sciences, meanwhile, is actively
underway. This Faculty will provide four years of relevant,
general education of high quality at the undergraduate level. In
due course the Faculty also proposes to offer postgraduate
and professional training, with the objective of developing
leaders for the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.
Academic and physical planning is in the advanced stage
and the Faculty is expected to enrol its first batch of
students in 2008.
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