In collaboration with University of Oslo’s Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM), University of Malawi’s Political and Administrative Studies Department (PAS) introduced a 2-year block-release programme of study leading to a Master of Public Administration and Management (MPAM) at the University of Malawi.
Funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), the broad objective of the MPAM programme is to contribute to Malawi’ socio-economic development through training of management cadres in the public service and other sectors of the economy. Specifically, the study programme aims at developing specialised management skills necessary for enabling the public service to emerge as a key driver of change and as a vehicle for rapid socio- economic development of Malawi.
The Guest of Honour at the launch was Mr. Bjarne Garden, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Norwegian Embassy in Malawi. In his speech, Mr. Garden spoke about the value of education, noting that "the higher the education level of a society, the higher the economic growth." He further emphasised that the MPAM programme will make a major contribution to human capital development in Malawi.
SUM’s Research Director Dan Banik highlighted the long history of collaboration between Chancellor College and the University of Oslo. "This is a wonderful occasion to celebrate the culmination of a long process of activities that have led to the formulation of this Masters programme and also the formal launch of a new and hopefully productive collaboration between the University of Oslo and Chancellor College," Dr. Banik observed. He further highlighted the importance of the 9 teaching modules – covering a wide range of topics ranging from theories of public administration to the relationship between gender and development – that were jointly developed by the two institutions. "These modules were developed on the basis of widespread and thorough consultations and discussions with various stakeholders in Malawi during the planning process," Dr. Banik said.
The MPAM programme is offered on a block-release basis, allowing students (a large majority of whom are Malawian civil servants) to continue working in their regular jobs as they are simultaneously enrolled at the University of Malawi. The first set of modules will be offered in the period 15 June – 03 July.
For further information about the programme, please visit:
http://www.sum.uio.no/norhed
