Background and Context
In 2000, His Highness the Aga Khan established the Aga Khan Academies, an integrated network of residential schools offering the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum. The first of these Academies opened in Mombasa, Kenya in 2003, the second in Hyderabad, India in 2011, the third in Maputo, Mozambique in 2013 and the fourth in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2022.
The Academies, along with the Aga Khan Education Services (AKES), comprise the Aga Khan Schools (AKS), which is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). AKS is a network of 200 schools, over 100 non-formal education programme and eight hostels serving almost 100,000 students each year, with the support of over 6,600 teachers and staff.
The aim of the Academies is to develop future leaders with the skills, knowledge and dispositions to support positive development in their societies. The Academies will achieve this by identifying exceptional young people from all backgrounds and providing them with the highest international standard of education. Selection is based on merit, regardless of a student’s socio-economic background or a family’s ability to pay. Financial aid is available to enable access for students with demonstrated need.
The search for, assessment of and identification of high-potential, talented young people is essential to His Highness’s vision and the mission of the Academies. To accomplish this, the International Talent Identification (ITID) Programme was established. Students, drawn from specific (and approved) locations where it is difficult or impossible for young people to access international quality schooling, are assessed on their ability to think, their leadership potential and their character, to see if they will benefit from an Academies’ education. Places are limited annually, and competition is fierce. Families are assessed on their ability to contribute to tuition fees and such assessment needs to be objective and fair. The Academies’ responsibility is to identify these talented young people and develop them into ethical leaders who have a commitment to contribute to the improvements in the quality of life of societies in their own country, their region and their communities.
The post-holder will set the strategy for the ITID Programme at a time of potential expansion and an emphasis on improving the support for the students. These students add to the diversity of the student population of the Academies. They may face difficulties in adjusting to the culture of a new country and a new school culture, and face linguistic challenges. The International Talent Identification Manager is responsible for strategising how to minimise these risks, maximise the opportunities for the students and support their integration in the Academy community, their chosen fields of study, internships, university destinations, scholarships and connectedness to their own region. S/he will be essential in ensuring that this key element of the Academies programme is developed and scaled to a high quality and a network-wide consistency. The programme is becoming increasingly complex because of the difficult geopolitical situation in the regions we serve. This necessitates an agile and flexible approach and an ability to manage a programme in a politically challenging and changeable environment.
The post-holder will collaborate in promoting research to help develop the programme’s essential strengths established in its development; identifying what we may learn; and how to strategise and make the programme sustainable through promotion in source countries and host countries, and with local community stakeholders and with potential donors.
Relationships
The International Talent Identification Manager will:
- Report to the Director of Education or alternate and will work as a key member of the network-wide education team;
- Work closely with the Heads of Academy, the Deans of Admissions, the residential staff, the Deans of Students, the Heads of Finance and those staff overseeing the students in the International Talent Identification Programme; and
- Interact with senior colleagues in other Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and related organisations.
Key Duties and Responsibilities
- Develop a strategy for the ITID Programme that is sustainable and builds capacity at the Academies;
- Develop, oversee and implement an annual plan for the programme, working collaboratively with the local leadership in each country sending students, the Heads of Academy and their designates;
- Advise the leadership of the Academies and AKS Head Office in rethinking how financial aid process can be best managed in the programme and across AKS;
- Review, refine and develop accurate, defendable methods of assessing talented students that will inform the Academies’ admissions strategy more widely;
- Develop strategies for supporting the induction, monitoring, support and tracking of these students;
- Remain up-to date with research and practice in identifying gifted and talented students, while also working in partnership with educators in the Academies to share and disseminate these practices;
- Liaise with finance and human resources teams at AKS Head Office and the Academies, and admissions’ teams in the Academies, to develop, manage and oversee the ITID policy and related financial aid policy;
- Work in partnership with the Academies and AKS’ university counselling lead and alumni relations lead on any graduate internships in gap years taken by ITID students;
- Collaborate with the teachers/Academy Fellows responsible for the students a part of the programme to support their participation in any international events, such as conferences;
- Collaborate with the Academy’s university counselling team on university and scholarship applications for students in the programme, working strategically to give opportunities for affordable higher education for these students;
- Plan, convene and manage the assessment panels held before students are selected for a place at an Academy. Provide concise, evidence-based recommendations to the respective panel so that the final selection decisions made are fully informed;
- Work with the local leadership in each country sending students and with admissions leads at the Academies in Mombasa, Hyderabad and Maputo to guide the process of student selection;
- Work with the respective AKDN office to arrange for the students to secure the documentations necessary to enter the receiving country;
- Provide information and support to parents of selected students, including helping them understand residential and academic life at the Academy and means of communication, as well as to learn about any particular needs students may have;
- Collaborate with Academy leaders in the selection of Academy Fellows, country coordinators and ITID coordinators, as well as the respective language teacher from the sending countries. Guide the work of the Fellow/teacher in providing home language and cultural support to the students once they arrive at the Academy;
- Guide other staff tasked with monitoring, supporting and reporting on the students’ well-being, cultural integration and academic outcomes;
- Liaise with Academy leaders to support the academic and personal adjustment of the students;
- Prepare reports, as requested, for AKS Head Office describing the progress achieved and critical future tasks for the future development of the programme;
- Collaborate with the education team and others at AKS Head Office, as well as staff at the Academies, to contribute to the sustainable and scalable implementation of the programme; and
- Any other matters required on behalf of the Academies network, as requested by the Director of Education
Candidate Profile
The ideal candidate will have the following:
- A commitment to the distinctive vision of the Academies in relation to ITID Programme,
- An interest and an understanding of contemporary politics at a global and regional scale, especially with reference to the countries and communities served by the programme;
- The ability to plan coherently, manage projects, evaluate impact and refine the programme accordingly;
- Willingness to travel for a significant part of the role (25-30%), including to challenging environments where infrastructure may be lacking and additional security is needed;;
- Intercultural sensitivity and appreciation, an understanding of how to support students as they adjust to and integrate in a new environment;
- An understanding of gifted students and how they are assessed and developed;
- The ability to manage volunteers, on a project basis, to bring the best from them;
- Empathy for His Highness’s vision in relation to the programme, as well as in relation to the Academies;
- An ability to build capacity in others and develop them professionally;
- Business planning ability.
Desirable attributes include:
- Willingness to be based in an Academy or in a local AKES Central Office; and
- Experience in schools or in educational programmes, preferably with an understanding of gifted students, school admissions and international transitions of students between cultural contexts.
How to apply
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