It is a continuation of the Al Azhar Islamic institutes that have existed since 1974 and which counts today 415 elementary and high schools and more than 50,000 students across Senegal, Africa, Europe, and North America. The goal of the university is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, mathematics, technology, liberal arts, Islamic and religious sciences and other areas of scholarship that will best serve Africa and the world in the 21st Century. The institute will be committed to generating, disseminating, and preserving knowledge, and to working with others to bring this knowledge to bear on the world’s great challenges. Besides, the university will be dedicated to providing its students with an education that combines rigorous academic study and the excitement of discovery with the support and intellectual stimulation of an intended diverse campus community. Again, the university will seek to develop in each member of its community the ability and passion to work wisely, creatively, and effectivey for the betterment of Africans and humankind. The Al Azhar Touba University (ATU), also known as Ndam University, will be a world-class institution. Teaching and research with relevance to the practical world as a guiding principle will be its purpose. With the idea of self-reliance that Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba has taught Murids about, the Al Azhar Touba University will be independent, coeducational and privately endowed. Its schools and colleges will encompass numerous academic departments, divisions, and degree-granting programs, as well as interdisciplinary centers, laboratories, and programs whose work cuts across traditional departmental boundaries. The total cost of establishing the university is about 15 millions US dollars.

By Serigne Mame Mor Mbacke

Author: Al-Editorial (AlazharTouba.Com)