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THE STATED AIMS AND MISSION OF THE AGA KHAN UNIVERSITY
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1 |
The Commission has studied statements that have been made
on the intended character and mission of AKU. The principal
ones are as follows : |
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i) |
Aga Khan University Order 1983 gave a Pakistan charter
to AKU with very broad and unrestricted purposes in the "Promotion
and dissemination of knowledge and technology ... in the health
sciences and such other branches of learning as the University
may determine ... in Pakistan or abroad." |
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Section 5 of the Charter asserts : "The University shall be
open to all persons of either sex of whatever religion, race,
creed, colour or domicile who are academically qualified". |
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ii) |
In his address at the Charter Presentation Ceremony on March
16, 1983, His Highness the Aga Khan said : |
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"This will be a Muslim university ... it will draw its
inspiration from the great traditions of Islamic civilisation
and learning ... [including] two fundamental aspects of our
Faith : the limitlessness of God's power and the brotherhood
of man ... " |
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"The overall aim of the Aga Khan University will be
to make clear and rational judgements as to which foreseeable
future needs of the developing countries require new educational
programmes and, having identified those openings, to address
them by the appropriate means, setting the highest standards
possible, whether in teaching, in research or in service. |
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"Aga Khan University has a number Of constituencies
to which the Charter encourages it to respond and with which
it must keep faith: the Pakistan Nation, the Islamic Ummah,
including my own Community, the Third World countries of Asia
and Africa ... it must address itself to subjects relevant to
the development and civilisations of these constituencies, if
possible responding to challenges in an international context. |
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"This is why the Charter specifically allows the University
to establish faculties abroad. Whilst it is too early to say
where these might be, it is my wish that this should become
an international University, able to mobilise resources from
other countries, to co-ordinate international research and to
encourage the exchange of ideas between nations. |
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"... one thing must remain constant : the mission of preparing
graduates, men and women, to play constructive, worthwhile and
responsible roles in society." |
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iii) |
The so-called "Harvard Report" was prepared by a committee
at Harvard University under the chairmanship of Derek Bok, then
Harvard's President, in response to a request from His Highness.
The Harvard group was asked to develop "conceptual options for
the university"; it undertook an extensive study and presented
a report of some 190 pages plus appendices in October 1983.
This report (formally entitled, "Possible Courses for Development
of the Aga Khan University") had several basic recommendations
on the character of AKU : |
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- It should be international, private, and "distinctive in
substance or quality or both". |
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- It "ought not be a big conventional university with the
familiar array of schools and faculties". |
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- It should serve the Ismaili community and the Muslim world,
and address "generic problems of development in the Third World".
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The Harvard Report stressed the need for distinctiveness in
AKU since it would be a small institution and would not make
a significant quantitative addition to higher education in the
Muslim world. Distinctiveness could be achieved in several ways
? by better preparation of students, by setting an example of
quality in the Muslim world, by contributing to international
understanding -and, as the Report particularly emphasised, by
"research on important questions for the Muslim and Third Worlds".
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2 |
There is a basic consistency in these statements of what AKU
should be, amid slight differences in emphasis. The Harvard
emphasis on the research functions AKU should pursue is carried
into detail in that report's recommendation on the components
AKU should develop in the future. The Harvard Committee saw
the quality of education offered by AKU as a potential
basis for its distinctiveness but did not match His Highness'
eloquence on the type of graduates AKU should aim to supply
to the world. His Highness and the Harvard group alike wanted
AKU to serve the developing and Muslim worlds, both directly
as Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) was beginning to
do and in the solving of development problems that the Harvard
Report urged as a focus for new parts of the University. Like
other universities, AKU would be devoted to education, research
and service. |
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For the Commission to assess how changes in the world may
have affected the aims and mission of AKU, it has needed to
form judgements on the present state of higher education, research
and scholarship, and at least make some guesses as to their
likely character and quality over the next quarter century.
The following section of our report is devoted to this subject.
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