With the support of the Dubai Government Human Resources Department and the Federal Authority for Human Resources (FAHR), the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government today announced the launch of the  master’s program in public administration for mid career professionals.

The newly launched program is designed to promote good governance and the adoption of best practices through offering strategic training to policy makers in the state. The course also seeks to offer UAE citizens and residents an opportunity to gain an academic certification that better prepares them to meet the criteria of career opportunities in the emirate’s government sector. Prospective students may begin to submit applications for the program that will accept 60 participants in the first intake, male or female, from the first week of July.

The announcements were made at a press conference that was headlined by His Excellency Dr. Abdulrahman A. Al-Awar, Director-General of the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources (FAHR) and Dr. Ali Marri, Executive President, the Dubai School of Government. The conference was also attended by senior representatives from Dubai’s public sector, in addition to senior administrative and teaching staff from the Dubai School of Government.

Dr Ali Sebaa Al Marri, Executive President, the Dubai School of Government, said: “The Dubai School of Government is keen to support the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum which seeks to groom a qualified generation that contributes to sustaining the emirate’s holistic development. As part of this objective, we have launched a restructured master’s program in public administration to meet the human resources requirements of various government sectors and promote performance excellence among the cadres of government departments.”  

Dr. Abdulrahman A. Al-Awar, said: “Dubai School of Government’s Masters’ Program in Public Administration works as an important platform to train personnel and develop the management skills of aspiring leaders as part of a long term vision to achieve excellence in all sectors including government services. We are confident the revised program will contribute to nurturing academic and professional excellence among our future leaders who will steer the emirate towards its next strategic growth phase."

Some of the courses offered by the program include public administration and governance at the regional and global level, public sector funding, economic and social policy in relation to global dynamics, organizational behavior and performance management, and quality management in public service.

The program requires completion of 33 credits in order to obtain the masters diploma, and is divided into 3 semesters comprising intensive courses preceded by a preparatory semester, if applicable at the college. The program will conclude with a Public Administration Capstone Exercise (PACE), which will require the students to work with one of the public sector institutions on a specific challenge and propose strong recommendations to modify its policies.

Students can either choose to study part time for a minimum twenty month period / maximum three year period or opt for the full-time program that requires one year of intensive study. Providing an opportunity to benefit from theory and practical learning, the program affords the participants avenues for regular interaction with the regional public policy sector and world-renowned experts.