Kathleen Wynne and Aga Khan team up to boost educational opportunities
Premier Kathleen Wynne and the Aga Khan signed a deal Monday to boost educational opportunities and promote what Wynne called “intercultural peace.”
Khan is the 49th hereditary Imam of Shia Ismaili Muslims and founder of the Aga Khan Development Network, a group of agencies boosting opportunities for the poor of all faiths.
Toronto is home to the world’s ninth Aga Khan Park, inaugurated Monday. The park is on the grounds of the Aga Khan Museum and the province views it as another feather in the cap of Ontario’s reputation for diversity, giving Toronto a competitive advantage among major world cities. The park includes landscaped gardens, five reflecting pools and covers 5.8 hectares.
“You have all created something very wonderful,” Wynne said at the official opening.
Opened last September, the Aga Khan Museum’s aim is to improve the understanding and appreciation of the contributions of Muslim civilizations to the world, and foster mutual understanding between different peoples. The museum got a $100,000 grant from the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund to help with programming in its first season.
Under Monday’s agreement, Ontario will second up to 10 teachers to Aga Khan Academies over three years starting next fall. Ontario will also grant university or college tuition waivers to 30 high school graduates of Aga Khan academies in Kenya, India and Mozambique over the three years starting in the fall of 2016.
The Khan Academies recruit exceptional youth from all backgrounds with an eye to developing them as future community leaders. There are 17 of them in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
