The UOH is the first university in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to offer public policy graduate program

The University of Haripur (UOH) has emerged one of the leading public sector universities in Pakistan.?The university is situated at a strategic location: gateway to the northern areas, 40 miles away from Islamabad, and member of China Pakistan Economic Corridor consortium of education. ?

During last almost three years under the dynamic leadership of Prof. Anwar Gilani (HI), Vice Chancellor of the UOH who has recently completed his remarkable tenure, multiple promising initiatives have been taken to put the University on the avenues of excellence. One of the such major steps was to introduce strategic and market oriented academic programs at undergraduate and graduate levels.?Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Public Policy and Governance program at graduate level is one of such programs introduced at the UOH.

Public policy education has been expanding globally during the past few decades. Policy schools and programs have emerged in different parts of the world.?Policy education and training serve the purpose of imparting (prospective) public servants with multidisciplinary, problem solving, and pragmatic skills and knowledge to address the contemporary societal challenges and ensure sustainable development. Policy education is exceptionally important to address perennial governance challenges such as corruption and lack of accountability and to enhance capacity building of public sector employees so that they can perform well in dealing with community issues.

The rationale of public policy schools is to instill in graduates designing smart policies that don't have unintended harmful consequences.?Public Policy programs attract lobbyists or political activists who want to learn how to predict the impact of a law before they make a decision about whether to support or oppose it. The MPhil program in Public Policy and Governance at the UOH is introduced considering the governance challenges of Pakistan and its likely contributions in addressing policy formulation and implementation hurdles in Pakistan and beyond.

This program of strategic nature is introduced after the successful operationalization of undergraduate program in Public Administration and Governance at the UOH. This new program is housed in the Department of Management Sciences having top-ranked research faculty of international repute leading by Prof. Abdul Majid.??Top ranked academics and renowned policy practitioners have been involved in devising the contents of the program courses. The M.Phil in Public Policy has been developed in consultation with international public policy ?and administrative schools. ?The new curriculum will help students to develop skills in policy analysis, program evaluation and quantitative methods, as well as study a range of policy domains including water, climate change, energy, health, urban, housing and global policy.

This MPhil in Public Policy and Governance provides in-depth training on how public policies are framed and how to evaluate and compare different potential policies or programs and how to assess their results. This MPhil program of interdisciplinary nature is designed to produce students and professionals by equipping them in all aspects of governance and public policy who will further strive to improve governance at local, regional, national, and international level by envisaging sound and foolproof policies. The program builds in students the critical and analytical skills, and improve their ability to develop and implement policies across state and non-state organizations. The students will also learn how to discover and develop effective solutions to social problems.?

Public Policy is a new academic discipline getting popularity in Pakistan and only a few universities in Pakistan are offering this important degree. The UOH is the only University in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province offing MPhil in Public Policy and Governance program. The UOH is yet to take another lead in introducing this important graduate program. This program of Public Policy is in line to establish academic collaboration with recognized top ranked international public policy schools such as Getulio Vargas Foundation, Brazil, Biden School of Public Policy and Administration, USA, and the Lee Kuan Yew?School?of?Public Policy, Singapore among others.

Graduates of Public Policy aren’t only well-placed to pursue a career in public sector work, whether that’s in local or central government, provincial government, the civil services, justice services, police authorities or social research organizations.?Graduates will be provided the skills and knowledge to thrive in private sector career paths, such as human resources, education administration and public affairs consultancy etc and to secure opportunities in various United Nation agencies.

Admissions for next batch MPhil in Public Policy and Governance will be announced for Fall semester 2022. The program is the right platform to gain hands-on experience in understanding the process of public policy, to develop public policies capabilities through interaction sessions with political actors, policy experts, government agencies, and senior civil servants, and to conduct policy analysis and evaluation through empirical research on various public policies.

?The writer is working as Assistant Professor at Department of Public Administration, Fatima Jinnah Women University Rawalpindi, Pakistan. He has served as Assistant Professor and Coordinator for Graduate Program in Public Administration & Governance, and Media Coordinator at the University of Haripur, Pakistan. He has introduced BS and MPhil programs in Public Administration and Governance at the UOH. He earned PhD in Public Administration and Governance from Getulio Vargas Foundation, Brazil. He is a former Visiting Fellow at the University of Delaware, USA. He can be reached at?[email protected] .?

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