Friday, February 19, 2010

CONCEPT NOTE ON DEVELOPMENT OF GOVERNANCE EDUCATION PROGRAMS

General
1.   Six baseline research studies (available at GINI website
related to governance programs, TNA and executive education were conducted during 2009 under GINI program aimed at promoting governance education in Pakistan. Main outcomes of these studies were shared in the wider forum of all stakeholders during the Pakistan-Norway Forum/Governance Education Network First International Conference on Governance held from 13-15 December, 2009 at Islamabad. Subsequently, the Program Steering Committee in its meeting held in the morning of 15th December, 2009, inter-alia considered the development of governance education programs in the light of baseline research findings. The minutes of the Steering Committee meeting are at Click here for Minutes of PSC Meeting. This was followed by experts consultation held during a workshop in the afternoon of 15th December at Islamabad. An executive summary of the proceedings of experts’ consultative workshop is given at Click here for Executive Summary of Proceedings of Experts Consultative Workshop.
 
2.   In the light of above deliberations, this concept note has been developed for ascertaining views of stakeholders on development of governance programs.

SUGGESTED POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPMENT OF

GOVERNANCE EDUCATION PROGRAMS  

3.   Following programs/courses may be developed for piloting in fall 2010:-
(i) Strengthen existing MPA and BS (Hons) programs (Public Administration/Public Management) by introducing governance contents in the existing foundation, core, and elective courses and developing new courses such as Regulatory Governance, Managing Service Delivery, Governance and Administrative Reform, Administrative Ethics, Tools of Effective Governance, Information Systems and Evidence Based Policy Analysis.
(ii)  Develop new programs in Public Policy at MS and BS level.
(iii) Strengthen existing Masters-Programs in Governance and Organizational Sciences.
(iv) Develop governance course for elective offering at bachelors’ level. Prepare proposed course syllabi for a minor in governance.
(v) Strengthen governance contents at intermediate and bachelors’ level in colleges. Review and propose additions to the Civics Curriculum and the Pakistan Studies Curriculum in collaboration with Higher Education Commission and Provincial Intermediate Boards.
(vi)  Revision of existing executive education programs/courses and development of new programs, where available through procurement, for various categories of governance practitioners.

4.   Policy actions for development and piloting of approved governance programs and suggested timelines are as follows:
(i)    Select partner institutions for development/piloting of approved programs by 15 Mar, 2010
(ii)   Develop detailed TOR for development of approved programs by 31 Mar, 2010
(iii)  Submission of detailed proposals on given TOR by the partner institutions by 15 Apr, 2010
(iv)  Formalization of agreements with the partner institutions by 30 Apr, 2010
(v)   Submission of inception reports by the partner institutions by 20 May, 2010
(vi)  Development of approved governance programs and supporting faculty capacity building programs – May-Sep, 2010
(vii)  One week Visit by 10-12 senior faculty members/members of curriculums development teams to attend seminars/workshop in Norway - 30 May- 5 Jun, 2010
(viii) Evaluation/finalization of draft curriculums for approved governance programs and supporting faculty capacity building programs - Oct-Nov, 2010
(ix)  Writing of three books: 1) Governance and Public Administration in Pakistan; 2) Governance and Public Policy in Pakistan; 3) Governance and Organizational Sciences - Nov, 2010- Jul, 2011
(x)  Marketability of approved governance programs including capacity building of institutions in terms of infrastructure/training material- Jul-Sep, 2011
(xi)  Faculty Capacity Building Programs for partner institutions in Pakistan & Abroad Jul-Sep, 2011
(xii) Piloting of approved programs/courses in partner institutions - Sep, 2011

5.  Methodology
(i)   Curriculum development, development of a Master Reader for each core course, production of a text book for each of three areas, Public Administration, Public Policy and Governance and selected elective courses along with local case studies, and capacity building of faculty may be assigned to the those member institutions who are selected for opting to pilot these programs and courses. Identified Curriculums development teams would be required to submit inception reports on assigned work as per the TOR/agreements covering framework to:
(1)  Identify and define the learning outcomes of the respective academic program in the light of research outcomes and current situation of governance/public administration/public policy. Learning objectives should be formulated in measurable terms and should measure the following:
    (a)  content to be mastered,
    (b)  skills to be mastered,
    (c)  techniques to be acquired, and
    (d)  values, habits, behaviour and attitudes to be developed.
(2)   Identify the governance/public administration/public policy programs in selected top class universities of the world and assess the relevance of the programs and course contents for Pakistan.
(3)  Develop a list of core/minor/elective courses in line with learning outcomes and objectives of the program.
(4)   Identify and define learning outcomes and objectives for each course.
(5)   Develop detailed course contents for each course.
(6)   Determine the credit hours of each course keeping in view the time required for coverage of course contents.
(7)   Identify background knowledge, pre-requisites and sequence of the courses to be offered.
(8)   Identify appropriate instructional methodologies and resources (teaching material) for each course.
(9)   Identify the student assessment/evaluation methods and their timings.
(10) Identify the potential market for employment of graduates with the minor in governance.

(ii)   International input for development of Curriculums would be arranged through video conferencing with the Norwegian experts and short visits by curriculum development teams to Norway.
(iii)   Capacity gaps in the faculty of piloting universities/institutions may be filled through workshops/seminars to be organized locally and in Norway as well as with potential partners in the region such as Dubai and Singapore.
(iv)   Development of case studies for executive education in collaboration with the NSPP and NDU as well as other network members. Procurement of relevant research materials for short courses and seminars for elected representatives and civil society members.
(v)   Regional approach to go to scale by selecting BISE/universities in batches for a series of phases will be adopted for taking to scale governance studies in intermediate and two year and four year bachelor programs in colleges.

Note:
The above strategy/timeframe will be suitably applied in case of strengthening of governance contents at intermediate and bachelors’ level in colleges and revision of existing executive education programs/courses and development of new programs for various categories of governance practitioners.

Stakeholders Views
6.    Based on the deliberations of experts’ consultative workshop held on 15th December, 2009, considered views of the stakeholders are solicited on the above proposed policy framework as well as on the contents of the programs/courses recommended for piloting in fall 2010-11.

7.   GEN member organizations may also indicate their willingness for development and piloting of above programs/courses along with detailed proposal outlining work involved in development of curriculums, supporting teaching material/research and faculty capacity building and the estimated costs.
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