For almost 100 years, agencies of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) have been engaged in providing education to the people of Kenya. The first Aga Khan High School opened in Mombasa in 1918. Today, AKDN's education programmes range from early childhood education programmes through to university level. In addition, AKDN works with the government to support primary schools in ten targeted districts of Kenya while encouraging children to stay in school and attain improved learning outcomes.
The Aga Khan Education Services (AKES) opened its first school in Mombasa, Kenya in 1918. Today, AKES operates three high schools and three primary schools. In addition, in 2003, His Highness the Aga Khan opened the Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa, the first of a network of 18 planned Academies offering the highest international standards of pre-primary, primary and secondary education to students across Africa, Central and South Asia and the Middle East.
At the Aga Khan Academy, students are grounded in their local heritage while becoming globally competitive. Examples include the integration of curriculum strands covering ethics, pluralism, cultures, governance and civil society and economics for development. The Aga Khan Academy selects students of promise, good character and serious intent, regardless of their family’s ability to pay. The Academy selects a diverse student body as part of its mission to educate future leaders with a pluralistic sensibility.
Through the implementation of the globally recognised International Baccalaureate programme, the Academy aspires to produce graduates who have developed not only a strong capacity and desire to learn, but a pluralistic outlook and understanding of the world around them. Through the curriculum, student life, and community involvement, graduates of the Academy become lifelong learners, with the knowledge and strength of character to face the myriad obstacles and issues facing the world today with informed judgment and compassionate leadership.
In Kenya, the Aga Khan University (AKU) educates nurses, specialist physicians, educators, journalists and communicators, nurturing in them a sense of social responsibility and a commitment to serving their communities.
The School of Nursing and Midwifery offers a Post-RN Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Higher Diploma in Oncology Nursing to working nurses, allowing them to continue working while pursuing professional development. The overwhelming majority of graduates have stayed in Kenya. Starting in late 2018, AKU will offer a Diploma in Nursing and a Bachelor of Science in Midwifery.
The Medical College’s Postgraduate Medical Education programme trains specialist physicians in internal medicine, surgery, anaesthesiology, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, family medicine, radiology and pathology. It also offers fellowship training in cardiology, cardiac surgery, infectious diseases and population health.
The Graduate School of Media and Communications aims to be the premier source of education and tailored training for journalists, communicators and media executives and entrepreneurs in East Africa and beyond. It seeks to foster an ethical, diverse, independent, innovative and economically thriving media and communications sector that contributes to the creation of successful and sustainable societies in an era of rapid change.
The University’s East Africa Institute is a think-tank that applies a regional and interdisciplinary perspective to the task of developing new solutions to urgent challenges facing East Africa. The Institute for Human Development is working to make a significant contribution in the field of early child development, recognising the potential of investments in the early years to deliver high impact at low cost in the developing world.
The Aga Khan Foundation has implemented programmes which ensure access to quality education for marginalised children. It has supported 995 public primary schools, benefitting over 370,000 pupils and 5,700 teachers and educators in some of the most remote and marginalised parts of the country.
The Aga Khan Education Service, Kenya (AKES, K) has implemented the Strengthening Education Systems in East Africa (SESEA), a project which aimed to improve learning outcomes for boys and girls in pre-primary and primary school and strengthen teacher education and support systems.
SESEA was a five-year project designed to strengthen teacher education and support systems to improve and sustain learning outcomes for boys and girls in pre-primary and primary levels in target areas of East Africa. SESEA was part of the partnership for Advancing Human Development in Africa and Asia (PAHDAA), a five-year programme co-funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC).
AKES, K, as one of the agencies of Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), has been implementing SESEA in Mombasa from 2013. Its major contribution was mentoring through the placement of practicum students, both from Early Childhood Development Colleges and Teachers Training Colleges such as the Madrassa Resource Training Institute, the Shanzu Business School and Islamic Teachers Training Institute. This was to expose student teachers (mentees) to the best teaching and learning experiences and practices at two practicum sites. These sites work closely with regular AKES, K teachers (mentors) employed at Aga Khan Primary School and Aga Khan Nursery School, Mombasa.
The two practicum sites had high quality gender responsive institutions for mentees. They also provided professional development to existing mentors to expand their knowledge and skills. They provided the schools with essential teaching and learning materials and general day-to-day stationery and resources that support teachers in active learning, including developing teaching and learning materials from locally available resources.
The mentors were exposed to different face-to-face professional development courses and online learning that emphasised gender-responsive pedagogy. The objective was to leave behind strengthened teacher education and support systems that will be able to improve and sustain learning outcomes for both boys and girls in pre-primary and primary schools.
By the end of SESEA (September 2017), AKES, K will have mentored 110 female students and 42 male students for a total of 152 - both from the AKPS, M and AKNS, M.
