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Aga Khan University at Age Ten |
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| AKU has thus made a good start in two of the principal
ways universities have influence and impact beyond their immediate
settings. Other ways are through research and
the careers of graduates. The results of research,
say by bringing better treatment of diseases, may affect the
lives of millions of people; hence the great expenditures on
medical research by the rich countries and the prominence of
research in their medical schools. While notable research findings
emerging from AKU can already be cited, it cannot yet be claimed
that the University is characterised by strong research programmes.
A principal reason has been that the necessary financial resources
have not been available to AKU, as one might expect from our
earlier description of the paucity of such resources in the
developing countries generally. (Earlier, the Commission was
particularly concerned that IED was starting without funds in
its budget that were explicitly marked for research; it has
been gratified that a grant from the Canadian IDRC will fill
some of that gap.) The need to strengthen AKU's research programmes
has been recognised by the Acting Rector and many faculty members
in the consultations we have had with them. But at the present
it must be said that the conception of the Harvard Report that
AKU's distinctive quality should principally be sought in research
has thus far not been the guiding principle of the University.
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| The possibility that a university
may exercise very widespread influence through the activities
of distinguished and successful alumni is familiar through
many famous names, from Oxford to the Ecole Polytechnique to
the University of Tokyo. And it has always been recognised that
the achievements of alumni probably depended less on what they
were formally taught than on the way they were selected and
on diffuse and rather obscure effects of their educational experience.
Cardinal Newman put the matter famously in his Idea of a
University (1852) when he declared that the old public schools
and unreformed universities of England did little but bring
boys and youths together in "residence and tutorial superintendence",
teaching them little and having "miserable deformities on the
side of morals"; but, as he goes on to say : |
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| "... at least they can boast of a succession
of heroes and statesmen, of literary men and philosophers, of
men conspicuous for great natural virtues, for habits of business,
for knowledge of life, for practical judgement, for cultivated
tastes, for accomplishments, who have made England what it is
- able to subdue the earth, able to domineer over Catholics."
[Discourse VI, pp.128-129 in Longmans, Green 1947 edition.]
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| We have encountered views in past statements about
AKU and in our talks with the staff and faculty that show awareness
of this sort of potential for AKU. It is of course much too
early to know if it is being realised by AKU's graduates, but
we have been much interested in proposals, later discussed,
that would make the vision of a future AKU include the production
of men and women who might not "subdue the earth" but help guide
it toward a better future. |
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| Being set down in a major city in Pakistan with
a Pakistani charter and a board that must have at least three
Pakistanis among its thirteen members, AKU has been in major
respects, a Pakistani institution. In its first ten years
its student body has been overwhelmingly Pakistani, its faculty
largely so, and, as we have regularly heard, it has been strongly
concerned to serve the needs of Pakistan. At the same time,
AKU has not forgotten its aspiration to be an international
university. Its board and academic leadership have been
strongly international; important relationships with universities
in other parts of the world have been established; and aspirations
to make the university more international, through the relevance
of its accomplishments and the founding of new branches, are
warmly supported by the present staff. And using English as
its language of instruction, it is immersed in what has increasingly
become the international language of the sciences. In its history
thus far, AKU has been preoccupied with building its first parts
in a particular country, but its commitment to being an international
university, serving the Muslim and developing worlds, is firmly
maintained. |
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| AKU has begun with professional schools in the
health sciences and education and under the provision of its
Charter that it will be "open to all persons of either sex,
of whatever religion, race, creed, colour or domicile who are
academically qualified". In such circumstances, the Muslim
character of AKU has been more implicit than explicit. There
has been instruction in Islamics and Pakistan studies, as required
by law in Pakistan; going beyond conformity, there have been
efforts to draw inspiration from the heritage of Islamic civilisations,
as the inspiration of the architectural setting provides and
as the regular section on Islamic medicine in the Aga Khan Health
Services newsletter exemplifies; and there has been a broad
sense of responsibility and commitment to the Muslim Ummah.
In our consultations with faculty and staff in Karachi we have
found a desire to strengthen the Muslim character of the University,
both through instruction and practice in the existing branches
and through new efforts, as presented later in this report.
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| The development of AKU thus far has required large
financial resources for construction and equipment, endowment,
and current expenditures. The contributions of the Imam and
the Ismaili community have been central and indispensable. Support
from international aid agencies has also been very important.
Assembling these large resources has been a remarkable achievement,
resting on unwavering leadership of the Imam and untiring efforts
from Mr. Shamsh Kassim-Lakha and others. But needs remain after
the achievements thus far. The MCC report showed that serious
financial problems continue to face the Medical Centre and will
not be removed by abundant earnings from the hospital, as was
once optimistically presumed. MCC thought the relatively modest
income from tuition fees could be somewhat increased, but not
beyond 25% for the Medical College, and notably less for the
School of Nursing. Other sources of income, from non-Ismaili
sources, from alumni contributions and elsewhere, would grow
over the years, but even for the currently planned programme
there would still be need for a major increase in the Medical
Centre's endowment, both for existing programmes and for additions
recommended by the Committee; this increase was not expected
to be met by the current fund-raising campaign. |
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| Medical schools are notoriously
expensive relative to other parts of universities, but AKU's
experience thus far suggests that either : (1) new branches
will have to be on a more modest scale than AKUMC; or (2) quite
large sums will have to be raised for capital and endowment
in the next decades, over and above what may be gotten from
various sources to meet recurrent costs. This Commission has
not been intimidated by these prospects and is proposing major
growth of AKU in the next century, while recognising financial
constraints in the short run and the need for careful feasibility
studies as new ventures are launched. |
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| We have noted that AKU in its history thus far
has been responsive to the manifest needs of populations in
which it has made its start. The establishment of IED came in
response to educational needs in Pakistan as they were perceived
in Aga Khan and other schools, and it was built upon projects
of the Aga Khan Foundation with these schools. There have been
other connections between AKU and the Aga Khan Development Network.
Indeed, AKU is an integral part of that Network, being described
in a 1992 brochure as having "a pivotal place in the Network's
social development activities". The Commission has been charged
with considering how changes in AKDN may affect what AKU should
aim to be. The record thus far suggests that the kind of commitments
the Imam and the Jamat have expressed in building AKDN will
have a powerful effect on what AKU becomes. The remainder of
this Section V of our Report is largely devoted to the implications
of AKU's position within AKDN. |
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