Canadian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dr Lilly Nichols has appreciated the facilities required for “inclusive learning” at the new campus of the Aga Khan Academy.

“When I met the new batch of Aga Khan Academy teachers, I was immediately impressed by their palpable enthusiasm to inspire a new generation of students committed to lifelong learning and global citizenship,” she said while meeting the teachers at the Academy recently.

With the continued support and facilitation of relevant Ministries and agencies of the government, the Academy is planning to admit the first cohort of students to select classes in August 2022, with the phased opening of the campus to occur over the next three years, said the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) on Saturday.

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“The minute you walk into the new campus of the Aga Khan Academy you are struck by the light, the fresh wind and the way that local materials are used to create bright spaces, conducive to inclusive learning,” said High Commissioner Nicholls.

In partnership with the University of British Columbia in Canada, BRAC and Dhaka Universities, the Academy in Dhaka has recently completed the selection process of its first cohort of Teacher Preparation Programme (TPP) interns.

Hosted by the Head of the Academy Theodore Coburn, a ceremony was held at the Academy attended by AKDN’s Resident Diplomatic Representative Munir M Merali and the Canadian High Commissioner Lilly Nichols. The High Commissioner handed over certificates to the TPP interns.

With the aim to help improve on the quality of education in the country, AKDN is establishing a new centre of educational excellence – the Aga Khan Academy Dhaka, which will be the fourth in an integrated network of Aga Khan Academies across Africa, South and Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

The 20-acre, award-winning campus, currently under construction in Bashundhara, is designed and built to international standards centred on the mission of educating the whole person – intellectually, ethically and physically – and creating an environment for teaching and learning that will draw out the best in all.

The state-of-the-art teaching and learning facilities and the first-rate athletic facilities and playing fields are also planned on the site.

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To help develop a cadre of locally trained teachers, each Aga Khan Academy offers the Teacher Preparation Programme (TPP) a part of their PDC, which supports local teachers in becoming certified International Baccalaureate (IB) teachers.

Developing teachers with the dispositions, knowledge and skills necessary to empower talented students is an essential investment towards fulfilling the mission of the Academies globally, according to AKDN.

For the Academy in Dhaka, the TPP interns will collaborate with teachers at the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad in India, where a coordinated exchange of knowledge, languages and cultures will occur between the experienced Academy teachers, mentors and interns.