Master of Development in Planning and Management

Purpose

The purpose of this qualification is to train, equip and produce learners with requisite skills to become Directors/Managers in the public and private sector including the Non-Governmental Sector, Project Managers, Community Development Practitioners, Entrepreneurs, and academics. Learners exit the qualification competent and with the requisite knowledge and skills to manage projects and qualifications being run by these institutions. Skills developed in the research methodology module, which culminates in the preparation and submission of a mini-dissertation, will enable candidates to be able to carry out independent social research.

Rationale

This qualification is necessary to provide the nation with learners that have management and leadership skills, which will enable them to make a positive contribution to the development of communities and society in general. Given the multitude of problems in societies such as poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, disease, inadequate basic services and so forth, the demand for development practitioners has been rapidly growing throughout the world. The qualification addresses this need including providing skills and knowledge for research and innovation in the field. In particular it addresses the national need of job creation and sustainable livelihoods in the context of Improving the effectiveness and efficiency of national, provincial, and local government structures in successfully implementing basic service delivery qualifications and maintaining governance levels marked by professionalism and integrity.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is guided by the institutional policy and is aligned to the objectives of the NQF. Entry into the qualification is possible via RPL as well as indicating advanced standing, provided that it is aligned to the institutional policy and that the applicant is evaluated by a qualified RPL assessor in a manner that is free from any form of discrimination. RPL practices also include standard Credit Accumulation and Transfer (CAT) practices of equivalent modules that may have been achieved in the course of the applicant's studies.

Entry Requirements

The minimum entry requirement for this qualification is

• A relevant Bachelor Honours Degree or equivalent, NQF Level 8.

This qualification consists of the following compulsory and elective modules at NQF Level 9 totalling 200 Credits.

Compulsory Modules NQF Level 9,192 Credits

• Mini-dissertation, 100 Credits.
• Development Theory and Practice, 12 Credits.
• Ethics Development Planning and Management, 12 Credits.
• Research Methodology, 16 Credits.
• Public Financial Management, 12 Credits.
• Human Resources Management, 12 Credits.
• Community Development, Leadership and Facilitation, 12 Credits.
• Regional and Local Economic Development, 8 Credits.
• Project Planning and Management, 8 Credits.

Elective Modules, 8 Credits (Choose one)

• Environmental Management and Tourism, 8 Credits.
• Agriculture and Rural Development, 8 Credits.

1. Critique and evaluate current research or practices that are pertinent to the specialisation area.
2. Design, select and apply appropriate and creative methods, techniques, processes or technologies to complex practical and theoretical problems in the specialisation area.
3. Solve problems in the field of chosen specialisation.
4. Ethically, access, manages and produces information in the context of the specialisation practitioner's profession.
5. Demonstrate sensitivity to and understanding of the contexts and systems of the profession
6. Takes accountability for one's own work by managing one's own learning.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 1

• Monstrate contemporary philosophical and theoretical issues in the field of specialisation.
• Debate complex issues orally and in writing.
• Display the specialised knowledge in a critical and comparative manner depending on the particular field of focus in the courses selected.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 2

• Draft a research proposal of acceptable standard in line with the guidelines for the chosen specialisation.
• Produce a research mini-dissertation of the required length and complexity that demonstrates the application of the research design to the identified problem.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 3

• Produce a research dissertation that reflects current research, problem analysis and implementation of strategies to solve problems.
• Solutions to problems posed in the assessment of the structured part of the course are indicative of the student's mastery of the complexities that characterise the field of specialisation.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 4

• Produce the research dissertation that contributes to the understanding, analysis and resolution of identified research areas in an ethically appropriate manner, aligned to the requirements for ethical knowledge production.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 5

• Responses to assessment tasks in the structured part of the course, as well as the research mini-dissertation, are properly contextualised and rooted in the specialisation area.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 6

• The learner applies him/herself to the researching and writing of the mini-dissertation in the prescribed time frame.
• Modular components of the course are completed with due observation of formative and summative assessment requirements.

Integrated Assessment

The integrated assessment takes the form of formative and summative methods comprising written tests and examination; individual and group assignments, case studies and the completion of a mini-dissertation.

Formative continuous evaluation comprising 1 test and two other methods of evaluation.

Summative Assessment

Learners have to prepare a mini-dissertation in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the qualification.

The teaching and learning policy of the institution requires that all exit level modules be assessed by external assessors, who have been approved. Additionally, all internal moderation of all other modules are carried out by internal moderators, as required by the institution's Assessment Policy, to ensure the quality of all assessments within a particular qualification.