The Aga Khan Education Service, Kenya (AKES,
K)
The Aga Khan Education Services is committed to achieving
excellence by continuous improvement of its programmes,
services and processes. Offering a superior education
to students is perhaps the most important factor in
creating a successful future for generations that will
have to cope with a rapidly changing environment. Considering
the system as a whole, the leading characteristics of
the work of the Aga Khan Education Services are:
- the continuing pursuit of excellence in educational
practice and management in diverse and challenging
settings;
- child-centred teaching methods;
- a special emphasis on female education; and
- school-based teacher training.
AKES operates a total of 13 schools in Nairobi, Mombasa,
Kisumu and Eldoret, from nursery to senior secondary education,
in both the national and international curricula.
A central office manned by professional educators, financial
staff and specialists in information technology supports
380 teachers in overseeing the education of some 6,000
students. The central office collaborates with the schools
in developing quality programmes, as well as ensuring
financial and administrative discipline.
AKES invests heavily in the training of its teachers.
Teacher exchange programmes with the Phillips Academy
in the US, and Masters degree programmes in education
with British universities and with the Aga Khan University
in Karachi are supplemented by ongoing, in-house, in-service,
programmes for all levels of teachers and school leaders.
AKES also works closely with the government education
sector by way of School Improvement Programmes (SIPs).
Funded through the AKF and international donor agencies,
these programmes have had a beneficial effect on more
than 200 schools in the western and coastal provinces
of Kenya by improving the quality of teaching in government
primary schools.
Teachers are provided with classroom-based training and
are encouraged to use child-centred methodologies in their
teaching. The SIP model of improvement has received international
and local recognition for its ability to influence the
direction of national education, thus enhancing AKES'
role as a change agent in education in Kenya.
For more information, visit the
Aga Khan Development Network website. |
