Education Service: The Aga Khan Mzizima Secondary School, Dar Es Salaam

The Aga Khan Education Service, Tanzania (AKES, T)
The Aga Khan Education Service (AKES) aims to provide quality education that imparts a broad set of skills and knowledge and develops independent and critical thinking. The education is designed to assist students in acquiring the values and life skills that will enable them to make their way confidently in a world characterised by globalisation and technological advancement. Creating an educational environment in which these aims are met requires high quality, motivated teachers. To this end, AKES has invested heavily in human and financial resources, including:

in-house staff development programmes related to teaching methodologies, updating teachers' subject knowledge and curriculum development in collaboration with international schools and universities
provision of a wide range of sporting activities
updating the libraries and information technology systems as teaching and learning tools.

AKES operates a total of four schools that have earned a reputation for offering quality education to Tanzanians from nursery to secondary school levels. The Aga Khan Mzizima Secondary School is rated among the top secondary schools in the country and is recognised for its outstanding examination results, particularly in the fields of science and mathematics. There is close cooperation with the Tanzanian Government in order to augment its efforts to bring education to all Tanzanians.

Currently, the major initiatives throughout the system include:

the introduction of computers and distance learning to supplement teaching and improve learning methods;
the improvement of physical infrastructure, particularly of community-based schools
advanced teacher training through the Aga Khan University-Institute for Educational Development
an East African education initiative to facilitate coordination of programmes, identification of best practices and quality educational initiatives, advancement of policy dialogue on privatisation of schools, improvement in teacher training and retention and acceleration of computer-assisted educational methods
development of English language and economics programmes at selected universities in Central Asia, through the Aga Khan Education Fund
collaboration with a leading private school in the USA - Phillips Academy, Andover - to improve AKES programmes in science, mathematics, economics, English language and technology.

For more information, visit the Aga Khan Development Network website.