MOMBASA, Dec 31: The Aga Khan Academy, Mombasa, the first in an international network of about 20 academic centres of excellence, was inaugurated on Tuesday by Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki in the presence of the Aga Khan.

The Aga Khan Academies will feature a curriculum based on the International Baccalaureate (IB) and a system of international student and teacher exchanges between academies as well as with allied schools, including Phillips Academy, in the United States, and the Schule Schloss Salem, in Germany.

Proficiency in two languages, including English, and mastery of information technology will also be hallmark of the programmes. To ensure access regardless of socio-economic status or other limiting factors, admission to the Academies will be merit-based and means-blind.