Prince Karim Aga Khan yesterday stressed the need for acquiring quality education by young students to fight out the clash of ignorance about the Muslim ummah, which is wrongly perceived as clash of civilisation.
“It's not clash of civilisation, it's clash of ignorance,” he remarked during a roundtable with some editors and senior journalists at Sonargaon Hotel to wrap up his four-day state visit to Bangladesh.
Prince Karim, Imam of Shia Ismaili Muslims, who laid the foundation stone of the Aga Khan Academy here, said one should think of Islam on sound knowledge, not on opinion or incorrect reporting. There are lots of misinformation and disinformation about Islam.
He said the academy is being set up here with an aim to build it up as a centre of excellence where quality education will be imparted to brilliant students by qualified teachers.
The curriculum of the academy will be formulated in collaboration with international baccalaureates so the students could be taught in global-standard education system.
In Bangladesh, he said, quality secondary education is important alongside upgrading the quality of teaching.
The academy will integrate each local school with other in the network, sharing ideas and experiences, exchanging students and teachers so that all graduates achieve globally relevant credentials.
Stressing the importance of understanding the rich Islamic civilisation, he said all are concerned about the erosion of ethical values. It is not only important to ensure the ethics in government, but also in the civil society.
He said the civil society can contribute a lot to the development, but if the civil society is undermined by malpractice, one could imagine what would happen.
The academy being established on a 20-acre site at Bashundhara housing estate at a cost of $ 50 million will teach pluralism, ethics, free-market economy and Islamic civilisation among other subjects.
Prince Karim said the students with all backgrounds would be selected absolutely on merit basis and poor economic status would not be a bar to any student getting access to the academy.
In response to a question, Aga Khan said they will explore investment prospects in infrastructure, agro-based industry, IT and training of nurses with the participation of international development partners and financial institutions.
Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam, Observer Editor Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, BSS Chief Editor Zaglul A Chowdhury, AP Bureau Chief Farid Hossain, Press Club President Shawkat Mahmud and UNB Chief of Correspondents Shamim Ahmad joined the roundtable.
Prince Karim, who left Dhaka yesterday for Paris, also laid the foundation stone of permanent jamaat khana for Shia Ismaili Muslims at Bashundhara.
During his visit, marked by the golden jubilee of his imamat, the prince called on President Iajuddin Ahmed, Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, advisers to the caretaker government and members of the Shia Ismaili community.