National Specialist: Programme Design and Development Policy

Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. FAO’s goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. With 195 Members - 194 countries and the European Union, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide.

The FAO-Country Office for Lesotho is responsible for developing, promoting, overseeing and implementing agreed-upon strategies and projects for transforming food, agriculture and rural development.(FAO) is supporting the Lesotho Agricultural College (LAC), under the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition (MAFSN), to implement the project “Transforming Lesotho Agricultural College into a Centre of Excellence for Skills on Education, Innovation, Extension and Agribusiness Development” (TCP/LES/4101/C1). The project supports LAC to develop a five-year Strategic Plan (2026–2031), a Teaching and Learning Policy, and a Programme Design and Development and Quality Assurance Policy, positioning the College as a centre of excellence for agricultural education, innovation, extension and agribusiness development. Programme design and development is a central determinant of institutional quality and accreditation readiness. LAC currently lacks a codified Programme Design and Development Policy setting out the principles, procedures and governance arrangements that guide the development, validation, periodic review and discontinuation of the academic programmes it designs and delivers as their sole owner and provider. The absence of such a policy creates inconsistency in curriculum practice and constrains the College's ability to demonstrate compliance with the standards of the Council on Higher Education (CHE) — specifically Criterion 2.1.7(a), Programme Design and Development (Programme Review) — and with the requirements of the Lesotho Qualifications Framework (LQF).
To address this gap, LAC, with FAO's support, wishes to engage a national specialist to assist in the development of a comprehensive Programme Design and Development Policy that is aligned with national and international quality assurance standards and positions the College favourably for full accreditation.
The overall objective of the consultancy is to develop a robust, evidence-based Programme Design and Development Policy for LAC that establishes clear principles, procedures and governance structures for the development, approval, delivery, review and discontinuation of academic programmes, in line with CHE Criterion 2.1.7(a) and LQF requirements

Reporting Lines

The specialist shall work under the overall supervision of the FAO Country Representative in Lesotho, direct supervision of the Assistant FAO Representative for programme and in liaison with the relevant technical units in HQ and Sub-regional office. The incumbent will also report to the LAC Principal and work closely with a Ministry-designated Core Strategic Planning Team, the LAC Focal Point/Coordinator, LAC staff, and the FAO Project Task Force, including the Lead Technical Officer for technical guidance and quality assurance of deliverables.

Technical Focus

Assist the management of LAC in undertaking the necessary analytical work, soliciting inputs from different role players and drafting the Programme Design and Development Policy

Tasks and 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 (including the Ministry of Education and Training, the National University of Lesotho, the Lesotho College of Education, and industry/professional bodies) 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; and
• Prepare a brief handover/completion report summarizing the process, key recommendations and outstanding follow-up actions for LAC.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum 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

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Selection Criteria

• 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;