FOR the first time in history the Centre for Disability Management Research Law and Policy (CDDRLP) in partnership with Cavendish University Zambia (CUZL) will host a joint postgraduate diploma training programme in Disability Management and Administration.
Our aim as a centre is to bring professionalism to disability administration in Africa and the world over.
For us at the centre, this is good news for proper disability management and administration as graduands will bring professionalism in the administration.
This is a six months post graduate diploma course for leaders in disabled peoples organisations, Government workers in agencies charged with responsibilities for the welfare of the disabled and non-governmental organisations (NGO) leaders working with disabled people.
This postgraduate curriculum has been designed for six months of which prospective students will only attend residential school for 21 days but continue learning though distance and online for three months and finally do field practicum  for three months before graduation.
This specialised course will prepare students working in institutions providing services to persons with disabilities and the roles in a variety of agencies providing services to disabled people.
Students will learn roles in agencies that include directors, managers, team leaders, disability focal point persons, developmental training coordinators, independent living coordinators, employment coordinators, rehabilitation coordinators and case managers, residential service directors and job coach supervisors.
An underlying premise of this programme is that the disadvantage typically experienced by disabled people reflects, primarily, the way society defines and responds to disability.
It is the oppressive structures of our society that create and sustain the marginal life circumstances that all too often characterise the lives of people with disabilities.
This curriculum is designed to create an increased awareness of the socio-political context of disability and to enable students to apply this perspective to the development of a wide range of skills in the areas noted above.
Core required courses cover a variety of topics including disability theory, policy, community building, advocacy, empowering practices, access and technology, leadership, research methods, ethics, and media representation.
Through electives, students pursue courses in such subjects as rehabilitation, disability management, human services management, crisis intervention, homelessness, ethnic diversity, gender and sexuality, and urban geography.
Since the focus of the programme is the social phenomenon of disablement, courses are not designed to provide in-depth information about the characteristics of specific impairments.
The importance of this course
Quite often there is inadequate attention to the problems and issues in disability Management and Administration in Africa in the area of policy formulation, implementation and setting up sustainable rehabilitation services at Government and community level. The course is designed to empower students with practical skills for effective disability administration in their roles as service providers, analysts and policy makers.
An understanding of the structures and mechanisms of policy making will enhance the potential for civil society, public and private sector actors to be involved in the decision-making processes and to view it with an informed analytical eye.
Prospective students in the course will examine processes of public policy formulation and implementation from a public, private and civil society organisational perspective.
Content coverage will focus on facilitating the creation of new knowledge and skills with a view to developing informed policy for effective implementation by public, private and civil society organisations.
The course will also look at how civil society organisations can effectively influence inclusive policy change strategies that take into account policy making, organisational structures, political systems, leadership and cultural dynamics of society.
The course is to integrate an understanding of theoretical concepts and their practical application in public, private and non-governmental contexts.
COURSE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
This innovative course is designed for prospective students who are motivated to play diverse leadership roles through informed policy design and analysis, policy implementation and evaluation aimed at achieving desired policy outcomes.
The aim of the course is to provide students with knowledge and skills in disability Management and Administration and implementation processes to assist them to develop relevant rehabilitation programmes and promote mainstreaming of disability issues.
The specific objectives of the course are to assist students to:

Gain a basic understanding and analytical skills associated with the disability management and administration and policy analysis;
Improve knowledge on how rehabilitation programmes are designed and implemented at government and civil society/non-governmental levels;
Analyse the dynamic processes that influence policy making  decisions;
Develop skills to design and analyse policies that are disability friendly by using different policy models;
Identify critical characteristics of the civil society organisational context that are likely to influence public policy design, implementation and evaluation processes;
Identify public policy problems within their sectors and use learned analytical skills to identify solutions to those problems;
Critically analyse global themes and dynamics influencing  disability administration at national level;
Craft public policies that will facilitate the achievement of development goals;
Formulate public policies instrumental to good governance;
Identify effective leadership skills for formulating policy making process;
Develop skills in managing and evaluating public policy implementation processes by both the Government and disabled people’s organisation, non-profit organisations;
Use the comparative method to improve understandings of rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities.
Develop networking across the disabled peoples organisations, public and private sector divide for influencing policy decision-making.
Prospective students will cover 11 modules to be facilitated over the period stated above and the areas to be covered include:
Introducing and Conceptualising disability Administration
Introduction to Rehabilitation Services
Public Policy Research and Writing Skills
Departmental disability policy and statistics
Disability Politics and Theory
Introduction to Populations Served
Leadership in Disabled peoples Organisations
Career Planning in Rehabilitation Services
Rehabilitation Management and Administration
Human Growth and Development
Rehabilitation, Diversity and Society
Community Integration: Process and Roles
The course will be held in Lusaka, Zambia from September 9, 2014 to April  9, 2015 and students who successfully complete the course and fulfil the coursework requirements will receive a postgraduate Diploma in Disability Management and Administration from Cavendish University Zambia which is equivalent to Masters Degree.
Students, who are unable to meet the requirements of a diploma in disability management and administration from Cavendish University, may qualify for a Certificate of Attendance from CDDRLP.
As a centre in partnership with Cavendish University Zambia will have assembled a team of world class trainers  to be headed by professor Allen Lewis from CRC, University of Pittsburgh in  United States of America and many other  as indicated below;
Mimi Getachew, PhD, CRC, Rutgers University, USA
Jenelle Pitt, PhD, CRC, California State University-Fresno, USA
Paola Premuda-Conti, PhD, CRC, Troy State University, USA
Allen Lewis, PhD, CRC, University of Pittsburgh, USA
Charles Mwape  PhD CDDRLP Johannesburg South Africa
Mr. Alvin C.K Nchemba Cavendish University Zambia
Albert Tembo Cavendish University Zambia
For this course we only sponsor 44 students of which 4 students per country but we shall allow self-sponsored and those to be sponsored by their Government.
Prospective students must ONLY come from the following countries Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe;
Requirements for admission under this programmes is as follow:
Possess an undergraduate degree;
At least three years work experience in a civil society, Government or public sectors (dealing with disability  issues direct)
Currently be employed in an area where disability and advocacy is a core function;
Middle management ranking or higher;
English proficiency (as the course will be delivered in English);
Be from the SADC region.
If you want more information about this course please contact us at  Dr. Charles Mwape; Disability policy Analyst for Africa
Centre for Disability Development Research, Law and Policy, Johannesburg.
Project Office, P.O. BOX 1981 New Castle, 2940 Republic of South Africa
Tell: +27343127894 Fax: +27343127894 Mobile: +27788839153
E-mail:   cm@cddrlp.net   Website:   www.cddrlp.net
The Dean
Faculty of Arts Education and Social Sciences
Cavendish University Zambia
P.O. BOX 34625
Lusaka Zambia.
Email: anchemba@cavendish.co.zm
The author is Regional Disability policy Analyst for SADC and Inclusive Development Advisor for Centre for Disability Development Research, Law and Policy, Johannesburg. Project Office, P.O. BOX 1981 New Castle, 2940 South Africa
Tell:  +27343127894    Fax: +27343127894  Mobile:+27788839153
E-mail: cm@cddrlp.net Website:   www.cddrlp.net  Mobile +260966-036931