Aga Khan Education Service, Tanzania

The Aga Khan schools in East Africa date to the beginning of the 20th century, when a girls' school was started in 1905 in Zanzibar by Sir Sultan Mohamed Shah Aga Khan III. This was one of the first Aga Khan schools globally. In pre-independence East Africa, Aga Khan schools were the first to admit students of all faiths, ethnicities and origins. Today, their commitment to pluralism is still at their core.

The Aga Khan Education Service (AKES), Tanzania aims to impart a broad set of skills and knowledge and instil a commitment to pluralism and ethical conduct. AKES, Tanzania operates two schools in Dar es Salaam. They serve over 1,400 students from pre-primary to higher secondary, offering the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum at primary level and the Tanzanian National Curriculum, the IB and the International General Certificate of Secondary Education at secondary level. Students of the IB Diploma Programme maintain above average scores and consistently gain admission offers to prestigious universities worldwide.

Alumni are employed in professions including accounting, law, banking, medicine, nursing, finance and business management.

Schools2030

The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) is leading Schools2030, a global 10-year participatory action research and learning improvement programme based in 1,000 government schools across 10 countries, including Tanzania. Using the principles of human-centred design and focusing on the key transition years of ages five, 10 and 15, Schools2030 seeks to annually generate 1,000 locally rooted education solutions that can inform and transform systems-level approaches for improving holistic learning outcomes for all learners. The initiative also includes early childhood development through a pre-primary cohort and interventions to equip young people with employable skills. Find out more

The Aga Khan University (AKU) develops skilled professionals with an ethic of social responsibility and a commitment to serving their communities.

Institute for Educational Development

Through a Master of Education degree and short and certificate courses, AKU’s Institute for Educational Development (IED) in Dar es Salaam develops educators who are transforming classroom instruction and school management. It replaces traditional methods of rote learning with a student-centred approach that builds problem-solving skills and encourages independent thinking. IED students come from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and beyond.

The Institute has awarded 600 master’s degrees and trained more than 5,000 educators through certificate programmes, short courses and workshops. Many alumni hold important positions in public and private education systems, enabling them to advocate for and implement new policies and reforms that impact large numbers of students.

The Institute trained more than 3,400 educators and government officials through the Strengthening Education Systems in East Africa (SESEA) project, reaching 307,000 students across East Africa.

School of Nursing and Midwifery

AKU’s School of Nursing and Midwifery in Dar es Salaam aims to strengthen health systems in Tanzania by upgrading nursing skills, improving the quality of health care and developing nursing courses. The School offers a Post-RN Bachelor of Science in Nursing. The programme is tailored to ensure health services are responsive to population needs. Its innovative curriculum enables nurses to obtain professional qualifications while working. To date, 750 nurses have graduated from AKU in Tanzania.

Postgraduate Medical Education

AKU trains urgently needed specialist physicians in family medicine, surgery and internal medicine through a four-year, full-time Postgraduate Medical Education programme at the Aga Khan Hospital in Dar es Salaam.

AKF provides professional development courses and modules to teachers. They are designed to develop the knowledge, skills and values needed to deliver inclusive, gender-responsive, high-quality, child-centred and playful teaching and learning in age-appropriate learning environments. In 2020, 90 teachers and school heads received professional development training.

AKF builds partnerships with the government and civil society to improve the institutional and technical capacities they need to lead and support the delivery of inclusive, gender-responsive, quality holistic learning for all. One such partnership was the Strengthening Education Systems in East Africa project, which was implemented in partnership with the government in southern Tanzania.

Its objective was to improve the learning and education performance of girls and boys, particularly in reading and writing, and mathematics, at pre-primary and primary levels. The programme reached over 150 schools, helping establish community-based libraries, improving teacher skills for close to 600 teachers and directly benefiting 60,000 students.