| EXECUTIVE SUMMARY |
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| IV |
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The Commission also studied Changes in the World at Large
and Their Implications for AKU. It reviewed political changes,
particularly in Central Asia, East Africa and Pakistan. The
first of these, following on the break-up of the USSR, has brought
Muslim countries onto the world stage that offer new potentials
for AKU; the deterioration of African conditions has concerned
the Commission but not deterred it from envisaging a future
for AKU in East Africa; the economic, social and political prospects
in Pakistan have been reviewed as they may affect judgements
on the location of new components of AKU in Pakistan or elsewhere.
The Commission has also been generally concerned with the failures
of governance that have been widely prevalent in the developing
and Muslim worlds in the past decade, and has sought to understand
what universities like AKU might do in the interest of better
governance. The "Developing World" is not now what it
was, even a decade ago. The Commission reviewed changes in understanding
of and attitudes toward development, and in the state of the
developing world, concluding that AKU should maintain its
commitment to generic problems of development. Changes in
the Muslim world since 1983 and as they may occur in coming
decades were also reviewed. The expansion and dispersion of
Muslim populations were particularly noted along with the rise
of radical Islamic movements and tensions over them within and
outside the Muslim world. The Commission concluded that AKU
now and in the future will be facing a more challenging vocation
as a Muslim university than it faced in 1983. We also concluded
that the progressive globalisation of the world and the
rising influence of multi-culturalism present new opportunities
and fresh challenges for AKU as an authentic representative
of the developing and Muslim worlds. |
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| V |
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The mission of AKU at present and in the coming decades will
be affected by its experience in its first decade and by its
role as a member of Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).
AKU has firmly established itself as an autonomous institution
of quality and integrity. It has made commitments to medical
and nursing education, and latterly to teachers' education.
It has established firm roots in Pakistan without losing aspiration
as an international university. Establishing a research capability
in a developing country is a difficult undertaking and AKU's
research has not yet been developed as well as it might be,
but recognition of its importance and a determination to strengthen
it are clearly held. AKU has much to contribute to other parts
of AKDN and can in turn benefit from them in many ways. The
expansion of the University into new fields that we envisage
will extend AKDN relations already present with the Aga Khan
Education Services (AKES) and the Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS).
The Commission has in particular met with the leadership of
the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the Institute of Ismaili
Studies and studied possible relations of AKU programmes with
their programmes.The Commission's general view is that AKU must
seek to maintain close and mutually beneficial relations within
AKDN, but must also hold faithfully to its own distinctive character
and mission. |
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| VI |
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The Vision of the Future AKU that the Commission now
holds after reviewing the many changes since 1983 does not differ
in essentials from that voiced in the Charter Presentation Address
and the Harvard Report. We believe AKU must be an autonomous
institution, setting its own course in pursuit of distinctiveness
and quality. It will remain small and can only be of wide consequence
if it grasps its unique opportunities as a private, international,
and Muslim institution. It must offer education of breadth and
high quality and bring forth important intellectual products
through its research and scholarship. It must loyally serve
the countries where it works and the students who come to it,
but it must accept the formidable challenges of being an international
university, with branches in at least three widely separated
geographic locations, and the aspiration to contribute knowledge
and example that will be valuable in many places. |
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| VI I |
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The General Characteristics and Components of the Future
Aga Khan University |
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We have stressed that the future AKU should have three broad
characteristics. It should be : |
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(1) |
A University on the "information superhighways" of the world.
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(2) |
A University using superior educational methods and techniques. |
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(3) |
A University devoted to advancing the status and professional
opportunities of women. |
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The Commission offers broad proposals on what must be done
in such matters as research and instruction on women's outlook
and careers to assure that AKU will have those characteristics.
But it also stresses that much planning and development must
be left to more specialised efforts. |
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The components through which these characteristics may be
expressed are recommended to be as follows : |
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| 1 |
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A Faculty of Health Sciences with some new programmes and
emphases. We expect that this Faculty will, in 2025, still
be the largest part of AKU, continuing and extending its present
programmes in medical and nursing education.We are recommending
a strong expansion of research, with corresponding growth of
graduate study in this Faculty. We also support previous recommendations
and the recent action of the Board for the development of a
programme in Health Policy and Management. Furthermore, we recommend
that the recent proposals for giving a more general and liberal
education to students in the Faculty be carried forward, either
in the form of a preliminary year or otherwise |
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| 2 |
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Continuation of the Institute for Educational Development
(IED) or the Establishment of a Faculty of Education. While
we have no doubt that AKU should continue to seek an important
role dealing with the educational needs of the developing and
Muslim worlds, we think this role can in the future take different
forms. IED may grow from its present start, adding other functions
in curriculum development, examinations, or other educational
matters, and spreading internationally. This could be an AKU
contribution of notable importance. An alternative pattern would
be to move toward a Faculty or School of Education, but here
the Commission feels strongly that AKU should not become substantially
engaged in first degree teacher education. In whatever direction
AKU's educational efforts move, serious intellectual objectives
and research should be maintained. |
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