Oeiras to have Aga Khan academy, the first in Europe
Aga Khan Development Network will buy 49 hectares of land next to Tagus Park for its first elite school in Europe. It will host students from five to 17 years of age.
Oeiras was the chosen city for the creation of an Aga Khan Academy, aimed at children between the ages of 5 and 17, in a teaching project considered as excellent, with small classes and teachers of various nationalities.
The investment is over 80 million euros and, to what PÚBLICO has learned, the academy will be built on 49 hectares of land next to Tagus Park. The land was acquired for four million euros, but the deed has not yet been made because the period in which, under the law, municipal entities, as well as neighbors, may exercise preemptive rights with respect to parcels of property.
For several years the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) had been looking for land for this project in Portugal. The academy had been planned for a 30-hectare plot in Cascais, which, however, did not advance, much because of a petition denouncing the excess urbanization of the Guincho area.
PUB
With the choice of Oeiras, and if everything goes well, Portugal will become the first European country to host an Aga Khan Academy, which is expected to open in two or three years. There are already three of these academies in operation: in India, Kenya and Mozambique, and the Muslim Ismaili community says they want to create a total of 18 academies in different countries.
The aim is for students to move between different schools to gain an international perspective, all of which will adopt International Baccalaureate (IB) from primary to secondary school. It is a kind of "quality seal" created by a non-profit educational foundation based in Geneva, Switzerland, which promotes excellence in education.
The Portuguese campus, moreover, will be fully designed to facilitate team teaching, according to a project designed by the architect José Mateus.
The PUBLIC questioned the Municipality of Oeiras on the importance that the creation of this academy will have for the county. "We are not aware of the terms of this business or the limits of the land in question," said the municipality's source.
Although the project will be led by a religious community, all children will be able to apply to attend the Aga Khan Academy and it is expected that those from economically vulnerable backgrounds will benefit from a scholarship as well as free accommodation under boarding school if necessary. The rest will be charged a gratuity, of value not yet quantified.
PUB
Portugal, together with Great Britain and France, is one of the largest Ismaili Muslim communities in Europe: there are about 7,000 Portuguese who follow this minority branch of the Shi'ite Muslim community.
https://www.publico.pt/2018/12/08/socie ... an-1853978