Hyderabad, Telangana, 10 April 2015 – His Highness the Aga Khan, founder and Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network, visited the Aga Khan Academy in Hyderabad earlier today on a working visit to review progress of the school.
The Aga Khan was accompanied by his son Prince Aly Muhammed, his daughter Princess Zahra and her children Sara and Iliyan.
Today’s visit to the Academy allowed the Aga Khan to assess first-hand the progress made since his last visit in September 2013 when the school was formally inaugurated. While at the Academy, the Aga Khan toured the campus including the Athletics Centre, the Junior and Senior Schools, as well as the student residences. Together with members of his family, he met and interacted with teachers, staff and students.
Kais Khetani, a grade 10 student who designed a prototype for a solar-powered car, was among the students who showcased their work to the Aga Khan and his family. Khetani’s fascination with solar technology began when he was in grade 5. The organisers turned him away believing he was too young. “They felt I wouldn’t be able to understand solar power,” he said. “I was determined to prove them wrong.” The incident piqued his curiosity and led him to his career aspiration of designing solar-powered cars that take advantage of India’s Grade 11 student Khushboo Khoja has focused on social change. After she started volunteering in a Telugu-medium girls school in grade 9, she realised students did not get
adequate exposure to English outside of a handful of lessons each week. She set out to build an English library and reading club in the school to help them improve their English and share
her love of reading.
“There’s a lot that opens up to you when you read,” says Khushboo. “Books are like another teacher. They provide a stream of knowledge,” she said, before adding that the students had improved their reading levels after the programme was established.
Through their dedication to social change, Kais and Khushboo, along with numerous other students who pursue projects like them, embody the Academy’s goal of bettering the society The Aga Khan is on a week-long official visit to India. On 8th April he received the Padma Vibushan Award, one of the country’s highest civilian decorations, for his contributions to social development in India. A day earlier, the Aga Khan and Minister for Culture, Mahesh Sharma, presided over the foundation stone-laying ceremony for the new Site Museum at the
Humayun’s Tomb complex in Delhi.
The Aga Khan Academy, Hyderabad is a not-for-profit school situated on a 100-acre campus near the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. The Academy is the second in a global network of day and residential schools being established across South and Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The school provides talented girls and boys from all backgrounds with an all-round education of the highest international standards. Students are admitted based on merit,
and a substantial number of full and partial bursaries are offered, ensuring that socio-economic status does not limit access.
The aim of the Aga Khan Academy, Hyderabad, is to develop home-grown leaders with a strong sense of ethics and civic responsibility, who will contribute to India’s future. By bringing a diverse group of students to study and live together, the Academy aims to help build understanding and respect across diverse sectors of society.For further information, please contact:
In Hyderabad:
The Aga Khan Academy
Survey No:1/1, Hardware Park
Maheshwaram Mandal, R. R. District,
Hyderabad 500 005, Andhra Pradesh
Tel: +91 40 6629 1310
email: admissions.hyderabad@agakhanacademies.org
www.agakhanacademies.org/hyderabad
www.akdn.org/academies