The Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), has been granted accreditation by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) to run a one-year Master of Arts programmes in Development Communication (MADC) and Public Relations (MAPR).

The new graduate programmes, which will start in October 2021, are under the Department of Liberal Arts and Communications in the School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (SOLASS).

The thrust of the new Master of Arts programmes is part of GIMPA's agenda to deepen and enhance its contribution to national development.

A statement from GIMPA said the programmes had cutting-edge design and execution strategies and were tailored to promote entrepreneurial skills, innovations and scholarship.

As part of GIMPA's vision and mission, the programmes would add new perspectives to development efforts with the view to assisting in the attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly the eradication of poverty, hunger, promotion of quality education, gender equality and decent work, among other goals and targets.

The Public Relations programme is designed to enable students/participants to apply and utilise appropriate analytical tools and technologies to manage and provide the required leadership and communication resources in a dynamic public relations industry.

It would leverage concepts and models in an integrated manner to improve skill-sets for consultations, crisis management, decision-making and evaluation at all levels.

Its focus is to bridge the intellectual and industrial gap, promote scholarship and professionalism in a more nuanced integrated communication arena. It seeks to prepare students/participants for public relations and other related managerial; and administrative careers.

In the Development Communication programme, the participants would be trained to develop skills for fund-raising, microfinance management, healthcare and environmental support and how to apply communication strategies in Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations.

The programme involves the application of communication for development approaches and strategies to sustainable national and international development efforts. It develops synergies using information communication technologies to support knowledge transfer, eradication of poverty and secured livelihoods.

The main thrust is to apply behaviour change communication, advocacy, entrepreneurial strategies and innovations to development issues in a knowledge-based society.

"What makes these new programmes unique are the in-built mechanisms of social media analytics, innovations, research and hands-on applications. The programme's design makes adequate provision for the deployment of information communication technology tools and a strong cast of lecturers drawn from both academia and industry.

The strong faculty is made up of professionals and experts drawn from the fields of communication, development, management, research, health, public relations, marketing, project management and finance, among others.

The programmes are national and international in scope and content as they develop synergies to support knowledge transfer, multi-tasking, documentary production, development communication strategies, community development and experiential learning to hone skills in leadership, management and administration.

The overarching consideration is to produce problem-solving graduates who can function at all levels of the human development chain.

The orientation is not only the building and contribution to the practice and development of a knowledge-based society but also to produce entrepreneurs, change agents, managers, administrators, communication directors/officers, community development experts, and consultants among others.