Sada-e-Watan Sydney ™

Sada-e-Watan Sydney ™
sadaewatan@gmail.com

Australian Islamic College of Sydney

63 O'Brien Street MT DRUITT, NSW 2770

TEL: (02) 9677 2613 FAX: (02) 9677 2648 Email: info@aics.nsw.edu.au

(Media Release to Sada-e-Watan By Mr. Shafqat Ali)

Australian Islamic College of Sydney (AICS) are delighted to announce its 10^th anniversary in conjunction with Opening Ceremony marking of the Final stages of construction for Australian Islamic College of Sydney (AICS) that includes:

· New School Hall

· New Library

· New Admin Block

The AICS represents the most ambitious and successful project undertaken by Pakistani's ever in Australian history. A total of $11MILLION DOLLARS of construction in record a six-year period under the Chairmanship of Dr Akbar Khan. Becoming the second largest Islamic School in NSW in unprecedented record time and the fastest growing in Australia.

Pakistani's represent less than 3% or so of Muslims in Australia in comparison to the numbers of all other Muslim nationalities in Australia. With this in mind, the combined construction and capacity of the Mosque and School, you would be proud to know that Pakistani's have overtaken every other Muslim nationality in Australia in a space of about 10 years.

HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN ISLAMIC COLLEGE OF SYDNEY (AICS)

1998-2007

The AICS began in 1998 with;

Two very old demountables & and a handful of students
Couple of staff
20 children
Primitive Bathroom and children's facilities
No proper play area
School access plagued by rain and inadequate drainage
Volunteer Board Members
Constant day to day struggle to avoid closure from lack or resources
Little guidance or experience is running a school
Whilst Mosque began to grow, many people still shyed away from enrolling their children
Minimal funding from donations

The AICS in 2007 now has;

$7 MILLION Dollars in construction from 2001-2006 under Chairman Dr Akbar Khan, less than 14% of this figure from Government Grants & no public donations
$0 Debt nor Loan from a Bank occurred during this period 2001-2006 for construction
$4 MILLION Dollars in construction from 2006-2007
$11 MILLION Dollars in total Construction from 2001-2007
Run by Board Members who work up to 70+ hours per week unpaid.
Largest School build by Pakistani's in Australia
680 students
50 + School staff
15 class rooms
Hall capacity of around 1500 people
1000% growth in student numbers
Second Largest Islamic School in NSW
Exceeded NSW BOARD OF STUDIES exam averages
Accreditation from DEPARTMENT of EDUCATION in 2006
Best School Accredited documentation by DEPARTMENT of EDUCATION in 2006 out of 150 Schools who applied
Student's travel as far as 40km to attend School
Expressions of Interest from Foreign students overseas
Visits by Federal Ministers, State Ministers and Parliamentarians
Students who impressed SBS Television selected to appear on SBS Insight Program
A Student was selected as a Guest speaker in the NSW Parliament 2006 & complemented by NSW Governor Marie Bashir, who requested a visit to AICS
One Student was the winner of the Best Student Debater and Public Speaker amongst NSW Islamic Schools
25 Nationalities of Muslim students at the School
Has the most successful and pioneering School Principal amongst Islamic Schools - Dr Ahmad Deria
A Chairman whose track record of contribution began an amazing Quarter of Century ago

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