MPhil in Development Studies

The MPhil in Education is a three-semester program which is market-oriented, up-to-date, reality-based, and competitive in quality. This program includes core courses common to all students, an area of concentration, and research-based dissertation. Core courses provide basic skills for research and professional communication and include research methods and statistics professional writing, and issue seminars. Students may choose from two areas of concentration to develop expertise in one selected field.

The 21st century has become the world of complex challenges in development making ever greater demands to professionals working from policy planning to implementation level in development sector. Meeting these challenges demands for creative development professionals who can apply and integrate critical thinking and practical experiences from a wide range of perspectives and can be innovative in seeking meaningful solutions. The MPhil in Education (Specialization in Development Studies), henceforth MPhil in Development Studies is the outcome to cater the needs of this complex society in specific to development sector.

The MPhil in Development Studies began in 2005 which aims to prepare professionals who could contribute to development sector at local, national and global levels. The students in the program will have a deep understanding of development theories and acquire a wide knowledge of fundamental policy trends in education and development worldwide. The program aims to meet the demands of the local and national needs of development professionals as well as international market by training and educating individuals. The students will be able to work as an independent researchers, trainers and educators in international organizations, government agencies, NGOs, research institutions, higher education institutions, and related areas. The program aims to equip students with the analytical and practical skills they need to engage critically in development issues and debates from an interdisciplinary perspective, and to work across the intersections of development policy, research and practice.

The objective of the program thus is to enable students to engage in social transformation processes utilizing research-based knowledge and through critical and comparative analysis and interpretation of social, cultural, economic, and political contexts that influence development policy and practice at the local, national and global level. It is expected that such capability would give the students a unique strength to come up with an innovative approach to address the concerns of development and education.

Program Objectives and Attributes

After the completion of the course students will be able to develop the capability to explore the interplay among society, education and development to

• develop receiving and responding ability for the conceptualizing development in society.
• develop reflecting ability on the development activities in their socio-cultural context.
• apply abstractions, general principles, or methods to assess the development activities
• critique the existing grand theories of applying theories to study development practices.
• synthesize abstractions, general principles, or methods to specific concrete situations while critiquing development perception and practices.
• develop the valuing of the local ways of knowing and practicing of development.
• demonstrate sound understanding of research methodology and practices to prepare for PhD research.
• offer opportunities to students for getting them connected with local and global circles in the intellectual community, and
• enhance their abilities for conducting independent research.