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Eliminating graft, fraud vital for social progress

Says Prince Karim Aga Khan

Staff Correspondent
The absence of corruption or fraud in the government is not enough for social development, said visiting spiritual leader of Shia Ismaili Muslims Prince Karim Aga Khan IV yesterday.
"Fraud in medicine, fraud in education, fraud in financial services, fraud in property rights, fraud in exercise of law enforcement or in the courts are all risks which can have a dramatic impact on social progress," the Aga Khan said while talking on the impor- tance of ethical commitments in the society.
This is especially true in rural areas where fraud is often neither reported nor corrected but simply accepted as an inevitable condition of life, he said at the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Aga Khan Academy in the capital.
A competent civil society is a major contributor to development particularly where democracies are less well established or where governmental efforts are inadequate, he noted.
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“...Bangladesh is the first Muslim country in which we have laid a new academy foundation stone," he said, adding that the academy will provide "world class education for young men and women from all backgrounds, irrespective of ability to pay".
To be one in the global network of 18 such academies, the first of which was opened in Mombasa, Kenya in 2003, the academy would be built on a 20-acre land at Bashundhara Residential Area involving over $50 million.
The Aga Khan, who succeeded his grandfather Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan to become the Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims on July 11, 1957 at the age of 20, arrived in Dhaka on Monday on a four-day visit
Three principles worked behind
the setting up of the academy, the first one being centrality of quality education as an element in the Islamic tradition, the Aga Khan said.
"Our traditional teachings remind us of our individual obligation to seek knowledge unto the ends of the earth and of our social obligation to honour and nurture the full potential of every human life," he said.
The second principle is integrity of local and national cultures. The academy will connect its students to global perspectives but will also respect the central role of each person's particular heritage as a cornerstone of his identity, he said.
A sound education system should help nourish the roots people inherit from their history which are a great source of strength and joy and inspiration, he said,
adding that this is why the Aga Khan Academies will follow a dual language curriculum in the native tongue and English in order to connect to the global society.
On the "compelling importance of global partnership and universal understanding in the face of forces that would dangerously fragment the world", the Aga Khan said, "In the process of nurturing a healthy sense of identity, we must resist the temptation to normatise any particular culture, to demonise the other, and to turn healthy diversity into dangerous discord."
This is why the academy curricula will emphasise comparative political systems, global economics, and cultures, pluralism and a sound ethical foundation.
While educating for global citizenship, the academy will integrate each local school with
others in the network, sharing ideas and experiences, exchanging students and teachers and affirming that all graduates achieve a globally relevant credential in the form of the International Baccalaureate diploma.
Education Adviser Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman, who laid the foundation stone and unveiled the plaque of the Aga Khan Academy jointly with Prince Karim, appreciated the Aga Khan Development Network's commitment and assistance to the field of education.
Salim Bhatia, director of the Aga Khan Academies, in his welcome speech said once fully built, the campus will comprise over 500,000 square feet of built space and playing fields to accommodate a wide range of sporting and athletic activities.