First group of students graduate

November 30 marked an important milestone for the MPAM programme, as the first group of students pursuing the Master of Public Administration and Management successfully defended their master's theses.

SUM congratulates the first group of students to graduate from the MPAM programme. Photo: Kaja Elise Gresko, UiO.

The students are the first to graduate from the MPAM program, which aims to enable civil servants with specialised management skills necessary for the public service to emerge as a key driver of change and as a vehicle for rapid socio- economic development of Malawi. The programme is jointly implemented by Chancellor College, University of Malawi and the Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo, and is funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad).

Over the course of the two year master's programme, the students have been through one year of taught course work, covering a wide range of topics from theories of public administration to the relationship between gender and development. The second year consists of independent research culminating in a master's thesis, where the recent graduates showcased research on a variety of issues related to governance in Malawi, such as government service delivery, anti-corruption reforms and public service outsourcing. The graduation of the first batch of students showed great promise towards the broader objectives of the MPAM programme to contribute to Malawi’s socio-economic development through training of management cadres in the public service and other sectors of the economy

- I am extremely proud that so many students were able to graduate in time, having completed very demanding field based research, commented Professor Dan Banik, who has supervised several of the students. - It is particularly pleasing to witness the graduation of the first cohort of what promises to be a large group of students in the MPAM programme!

 

The students presented a wide range of research on topics related to governance in Malawi 

The second cohort in the MPAM programme are expected to graduate in 2018, while a third cohort has recently started their first year of course work.

SUM warmly congratulates the graduates on their accomplishment!

Published Oct. 28, 2020 11:11 AM