Since mid-1995, Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development has developed a number of professional programmes for teachers, school heads and education officers. These programmes have been planned and implemented with assistance from the partner universities - the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto ; and Department of Educational Studies, University of Oxford. The School of Education, Sheffield Hallam University, England, played a key role in assisting AKU-IED in developing the educational management-related programmes.

In August 2002, the Board of Graduate Studies of Aga Khan University approved new nomenclature for all the professional programmes.