Diploma in Governance and Public Administration
Gives students a holistic understanding of the challenges facing administrators and leaders in the public sector, grounded in a historical overview of the theories and practices that shaped public administration as a profession and applied critically to the Myanmar context. Students learn about Myanmar's public sector from national to local level, budgeting, planning and governance reform, and core leadership skills such as project management, capacity building and applied research.
About this diploma
Gives students a holistic understanding of the challenges facing administrators and leaders in the public sector, grounded in a historical overview of the theories and practices that shaped public administration as a profession and applied critically to the Myanmar context. Students learn about Myanmar's public sector from national to local level, budgeting, planning and governance reform, and core leadership skills such as project management, capacity building and applied research.
- Duration
- 9 months
- Structure
- Three trimesters, 9 modules including an elective and an independent research project
3 semesters, course by course.
Trimester 13 courses
- C101Foundation Skills: Political Theory and Critical Thinking, Part 1
The first half of a two-trimester foundation course in political theory and critical thinking: key thinkers and concepts of power, legitimacy and the state, and the habits of reading, questioning and argument that the rest of the programme relies on.
- C102Foundation Skills: Core Research Methods
An applied introduction to research for public administrators: framing a question, choosing qualitative and quantitative methods, collecting and interpreting evidence, and writing it up for decision-makers.
- G201Introduction to Public Administration
The theories and practices that have shaped public administration as a profession, from classical bureaucracy to new public management, and what each means for Myanmar's administrators today.
Trimester 23 courses
- C101Foundation Skills: Political Theory and Critical Thinking, Part 2
Continues the foundation course with contemporary political theory, debates on democracy, federalism and accountability, and the application of critical analysis to Myanmar's governance questions.
- G202Governance Structures in Myanmar
Myanmar's public sector from the national to the local level: ministries, state and region governments, township administration and the reform agenda, including the structures emerging since 2021.
- G203Public Finance Management
How public money is raised, budgeted, spent and accounted for: budget cycles, planning, procurement, audit and the transparency practices that make financial management trustworthy.
Trimester 33 courses
- G204Project Management
Planning, delivering and evaluating public sector projects: scoping, scheduling, stakeholder management, risk, monitoring and reporting, with team exercises on real Myanmar cases.
- G300sElective Module
One elective chosen from the institute's offering that trimester, allowing students to go deeper into a governance topic that matches their work or interests.
- G401Independent Research Project
A mentored research project on a public administration or governance question, producing a paper that demonstrates the programme's research and critical thinking skills.
What graduates can do.
- Understand the challenges facing administrators and leaders in the public sector and apply lessons from the history of the profession to Myanmar.
- Know Myanmar's public sector from national to local level, including budgeting, planning and governance reform.
- Lead through project management, capacity building and applied research as a self-directed learner ready for mid-level management or further study.