Student Enrollment

FPD in 2008 again showed strong growth in student registrations with 20 180 student enrollments, bringing the total number of students who have studied with FPD since its launch in 1998 to 83 937. The graph below shows this growth in student numbers.

One of the highlights of 2008 was the rollout of the Tomorrow’s Leadership Programme (TLP) through a scholarship programme to public sector and NGO junior managers. Two groups of students started in November 2008 on this fully sponsored course and eight more will start in 2009. The TLP was developed as an introduction course for managers who have done no management training and will prepare them to continue onto the certificate in Advanced Health Management (CAHM) or the Advanced Health Management Programme (AHMP) offered at present.

The AHMP is offered in collaboration with Yale University, and is the largest public sector management training programme in the country that focuses on managers working in the AIDS field. In 2008, a total of 385 healthcare managers in the public or not-for-profit sector from all nine provinces in South Africa were enrolled.

Regional expansion was again a priority activity for FPD in 2008, as can be seen in the graph below. Our educational activities reached the Middle East through a management training programme for AstraZeneca in Cairo, Egypt.  This course included participants from Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.

In 2008 FPD expanded its training to a francophone country, with an HIV/AIDS Management Course for Doctors held in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in June 2008. Forty-three doctors from the DRC’s Health Department were trained on this three-day course.

FPD commenced training in Eritrea, with workshops in the Management of HIV/AIDS for Professional Nurses and laid the groundwork for expansion to Angola in January 2009.

Learning and Student Support Services

FPD maintains a resource centre at its registered head office. Apart from literature associated with its programmes and courses, internet access is also provided. Students receive support required from faculty and facilitators and may request additional assistance from FPD if needed. FPD’s website offers students assistance through the provision of assessment and assignment guidelines.