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Princess Zahra visited India and Bangladesh in June to review progress in the redevelopment of Prince Aly Khan Hospital and the surrounding Aga Hall estate, and to take part in celebrating the silver jubilee of the Aga Khan School in Dhaka.

The expansion of the 162-bed Prince Aly Khan Hospital in Mumbai is envisioned as an anchor within an integrated AKDN health system in India. In addition to providing quality healthcare that meets the highest international standards, the hospital will be distinguished through its post-graduate medical, nursing and allied health education, and in time will incorporate a faculty of health sciences to become a university hospital.

During a visit in February 2012, Princess Zahra toured the hospital’s expanded cardiac post-surgical intensive care unit and a new critical care unit. The hospital is situated on lands of the Aga Hall estate that also include a school, residences and a Jamatkhana, each of which are being refurbished as part of the redevelopment.

While in India, Princess Zahra also met with the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Prithviraj Chavan, and attended an dinner reception hosted by the Ismaili Council for India.

In Bangladesh, Princess Zahra visited the Aga Khan School, Dhaka, where she addressed students and took part in a cake-cutting ceremony marking the school’s 25th anniversary. Touring classrooms, laboratories and other areas of the school, she interacted with students, teachers and school leaders. Princess Zahra also visited greenfield sites under consideration for a proposed new facility for the school.

The flagship school of the Aga Khan Education Service in Bangladesh, the Aga Khan School in Dhaka is part of an international network of 240 schools in South Asia, Central Asia and East Africa. Established in 1988 with an initial enrolment of 25 students, the school has expanded to a student body of 1 200 and 120 teachers.

One of only three schools in Bangladesh to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme, the Aga Khan School, Dhaka is considered one of the best English-medium schools in the country. Over the past 15 years, it has played an important role in building teaching capacity, offering a Certificate in Education to over 200 Bangladeshi teachers from local and government schools with support from the Aga Khan University’s Institute for Educational Development in Pakistan.

Later, Princess Zahra met with AKDN and Jamati institutional leaders at the Ismaili Jamatkhana and Centre, Dhaka. In the evening, after addressing the youth of the Ismaili community, she attended a dinner hosted by the Ismaili institutional leaders of Bangladesh