National Specialist: Programme Design and Development Policy

The FAO Representation in Lesotho seeks a National Specialist to assist the Lesotho Agricultural College in developing a comprehensive Programme Design and Development Policy aligned with national and international quality assurance standards. The consultancy supports the College's accreditation readiness and institutional quality improvement.

Responsibilities

• Conduct a detailed review and audit of LAC's current curriculum approval and programme development processes, identifying bottlenecks, redundancies and gaps against CHE Criterion 2.1.7(a), LQF requirements and international best practice
• Benchmark LAC's programme design and development practices against comparable national and international higher education and agricultural training institutions
• Facilitate consultative workshops with LAC leadership, academic staff, students, and relevant external stakeholders to define core programme design principles and governance arrangements
• Establish outcome-based curriculum design principles and design clear, step-by-step procedures for the three phases of the programme life cycle: development and validation, periodic review, and discontinuation
• Support designing a standard internal and external programme audit/review schedule and assess LAC's institutional capacity to implement it, including any capacity-strengthening measures required
• Draft the complete Programme Design and Development Policy document, defining the roles, composition and terms of reference of all relevant curriculum and programme approval committees
• Support the development an accompanying Implementation Plan and Institutional Readiness Assessment to guide the rollout of the policy across all academic departments
• Present the draft policy and implementation plan to the LAC Project Steering Committee (PSC) for review and validation
• Incorporate feedback from the PSC, LAC management and FAO, and finalize the policy document for formal institutional approval
• Prepare a brief handover/completion report summarizing the process, key recommendations and outstanding follow-up actions for LAC

Requirements

• Advanced degree (Master's or higher) in Education, Higher Education Pedagogy, Curriculum studies, or a closely related field
• Seven Years (7) of relevant professional experience in curriculum and programme development, quality assurance, or higher education policy
• Working Knowledge (proficiency - level C) of English and Sesotho
• National of Lesotho or resident of the country with a valid work permit
• Demonstrated knowledge of national qualifications frameworks and accreditation standards, preferably the Lesotho Qualifications Framework and Council on Higher Education requirements
• Prior experience developing institutional policies or frameworks for higher education or technical and vocational institutions
• Strong facilitation, stakeholder consultation and report-writing skills

Skills

• Curriculum Design
• Program Development
• Quality Assurance
• Higher Education Policy Analysis
• National Qualifications Frameworks
• Accreditation Standards Compliance
• Policy Development
• Institutional Frameworks
• Technical-Vocational Education
• Multi-Stakeholder Consultation
• Report Writing
• Facilitation Skills
• Lesotho Qualifications Framework
• Council on Higher Education Requirements

Languages

English, Sesotho