PROPOSED CURRICULUM FOR THE MASTER OF ARTS IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Sub-Saharan Africa is currently faced with an ever-increasing number of children and adolescents growing under difficult circumstances. Such children are the victims of a combination of several unwarrantable human situations that include poverty, civil wars, and the HlV AIDS pandemic. In the majority of cases, children born under any or some of these environmental situations in Africa are prone to suffering from one form of maladjustment, serious infection or some physical deprivation.

Faced with the enormity of such life threatening situations, many African governments as well as non-governmental organizations have set up intervention focused programmes to assist society in restoring the lives of many affected children from the state of hopelessness to normal human growth and development. Notwithstanding the good intentions of the established children's programmes, many of the organizations lack qualified professional personnel dealing with child development issues.

The proposed postgraduate curriculum in child development is designed for the purpose of equipping individuals who work or wish to work with children with the requisite professional qualifications in child development. In this respect, while some of the courses stipulated in this program may appear similar in content to those offered in teacher training programs, the clientele for this particular curriculum are professionals in Social Work, parent educators, child/youth advocates in social and legal arenas, child and family counselors, teachers in elementary, middle and secondary schools, pediatric nurses, and professionals in public and health care agencies.