Aga Khan University Chancellor, The Aga Khan speaking when he conferred
diplomas, bachelors' degrees in Nursing and Master of Medicine during
the graduation ceremony that marked the university's 15th anniversary in
East Africa on March 2, 2015. PHOTO | BILLY MUTAI |
NATION MEDIA GROUP
The Aga Khan University (AKU) will this year open a graduate
school of media and communication in Nairobi as part of a major
expansion in East Africa.
Other graduate schools are in
the pipeline, specifically designed to advance a healthy civil society,
the Aga Khan said on Monday.
They include schools of
leadership and management; hospitality, leisure and tourism;
architecture and human settlements; government, civil society and public
policy; economic growth and development; law; and education.
The
planned schools are part of a Sh90 billion investment in education that
the university will make in the East Africa region over the next 15
years.
Out of this, more than Sh31.5 billion will be
invested in Kenya and will go towards putting up the various
institutions of higher learning.
According to the Aga
Khan, a new campus is being constructed in Arusha, Tanzania, and will
open in 2019 while another will open in Dar es Salaam.
STRENGTHENING CIVIL SOCIETY
“Our
new graduate school of media and communication here in Nairobi will
offer professional development courses as well as a master's degree
programme in the fields of journalism and media management,” said the
Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of Shia Ismaili Muslims.
“Specialised
reporting skills will be in fields such as the environment, business
and finance, the work of NGOs and the analysis of social impacts,” he
added during a graduation ceremony where 27 graduands received diplomas
in nursing and midwifery while another 39 were conferred with bachelors
of science degrees in medicine and another 21 got master's degrees in
medicine.
The Aga Khan said the media school would
serve a wide range of students from both the public and private sectors,
adding that the school would share a new building with other
professional schools, one in leadership and management and the other in
hospitality, leisure and tourism.
“Over 15 years, the
total investment in Kenya for these programmes will exceed $350 million
(Sh31.5 billion),” added the Aga Khan when he officiated at the
university’s 15th graduation ceremony in Nairobi on Monday.
“In
addition to the three professional graduate schools, we are also
planning new graduate schools of government, civil society and public
policy, economic growth and development, law and education,” added the
Ismaili Imam.
He said the programmes will strengthen civil society to help accelerate improvement in the quality of human life.
EXPANSION PATH
“A
healthy civil society is a meritocratic one, where ethics are honoured
and excellence is valued. And the great question now confronting us in
Africa is how rapidly the institutions of a healthy civil society can be
established and reinforced,” added the Aga Khan.
The
Aga Khan, who is also the chancellor of AKU, said with the institution
now having acquired a charter in Tanzania, it was on its path to
prosperity and expansion while offering quality education and leadership
skills.
“As we expand our work in Kenya, one of our
highest priorities is to achieve international standards of health care,
especially for non-communicable diseases such as cancer, heart disease
and diabetes,” he added.
While addressing the same
gathering, AKU President Firoz Rasul said the institution was setting up
campuses in all the countries of East Africa, and in Kampala, Uganda,
the university would establish a teaching hospital to provide
international health services as well as train professionals.
“Each
of our campuses and programmes will serve students from across East
Africa, they will be crossroads, places that bring the region’s people
together to learn from the best in the world and from each other,” he
added.
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