The 33-year-old Aga Khan School, one of the leading English-medium schools in the country, is closing.
Aga Khan Education Service, the school's governing body, has decided to close the school and launch Aga Khan Academy; a decision that will put the future of thousands of students in uncertainty.
The school’s management authority announced the closure of the school in two steps from next year through an online meeting on June 16 and later by e-mails to the parents.
The school will be shifting its curriculum from Cambridge to the International Baccalaureate (IB). For this reason, they are going to close the Aga Khan School and start the Aga Khan Academy.
The Cambridge curriculum is operated centrally from the United Kingdom. All students take the test on the same question paper. Evaluation of their examination paper is also done centrally. The IB curriculum is administered under the IB Foundation in Switzerland.
The sudden decision of closing the school has put the parents in distress. Due to this transition, the tuition fees will increase three to four times, according to the preliminary fee structure shown to the parents.
However, due to the protest of parents, the school authority has decided to take three months and within this period they will finalize the fee structure after discussing with the parents, considering their demands.
Moreover, the degree awarded in the IB curriculum is accepted in very few universities in this country. Apart from this, the parents are also worried about whether all the students of Aga Khan School can be admitted to the new institution. They have appealed to Education Minister Dipu Moni to take necessary steps to keep the school separate from the Aga Khan Academy without closing it and continue the current curriculum by keeping options to choose from both the curriculums.
According to the press statement of Aga Khan Education Service, all students currently enrolled at the Aga Khan School, Dhaka have been invited on a priority basis to continue their educational experience at the Academy in Bashundhara.
The statement also added that a comprehensive consultation process is underway with all families of the Aga Khan School, Dhaka to better understand their requirements. The details of the transition plan will be made available once this consultation process has been completed.
Seeking anonymity, one of the parents told Bangladesh Post that her daughter was admitted in the school in 2017. During that time, she was told that the authority is going to establish the Aga Khan Academy but the school and this academy will run their operations as two separate entities.
“The authority didn’t inform us beforehand that they will be closing the Aga Khan School and establishing the Aga Khan Academy. We were told to prepare ourselves for the transition in the parent-teacher meeting before Eid-ul-Fitr”, she added.
Another parent told Bangladesh Post, “I had admitted my child in this school knowing the curriculum and fee structure of the school. However, now we are being told that the school will be closed and we have to shift our children to the academy. The fee structure and curriculum in the Aga Khan Academy would be completely different from those in the Aga Khan School.”
He further said that the parents want the school to continue its academic activities in the Cambridge curriculum. And even if the authority remains determined about closing the school, the options to choose from both the curriculum should be open.
Salima Kashem Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Aga Khan Education Service told Bangladesh Post that any student from the Aga Khan School who wishes to move to the Aga Khan Academy will have a place there.
She said that the transition will take place in two phases. “Up to a certain grade will shift first and then the remainder of the grades will be shifted next year and everybody will be accommodated”, she said.
She couldn’t provide any conclusive information about the students who won’t be included in the first phase and therefore have to wait for one more year.
Regarding the fee structure she said, “What we are in the process of doing right now is that we are consulting with every single family at the school to find out more about their requirements. The details around the plan will be decided after that process.”
The statement of Amyn Saleh, Chairman of the Aga Khan Education Service could not be obtained regarding this issue as he didn’t receive phone calls despite being contacted multiple times by this correspondent.