Introduction
Director of the Academy of Leisure Sciences Africa
Expert
Academic background : Masters Degree in Sport Science. Currently studying towards a PhD. Areas of specialisation : Recreation, Leisure Sciences, Exercise Physiology.
Experience : Strategic planning, policy development and implementation; program planning, outcomes based monitoring and evaluation; research; fund raising.
Other skills : Business management; project management; communication; computer literate
Maliga Naidoo graduated with a Bachelor of Paedagogy majoring in Education, Physical Education and History in 1985. Her passion for Leisure and Recreation, lead her to continue her studies in Recreation Management and Exercise Physiology completing an Honours degree in 1990. Currently working on a PhD. Between 1997 and 2007 Maliga occupied many positions as an “activist” for recreation service delivery in South Africa. In 2001 she was appointed by the Minister of Sport and Recreation as the Commissioner of Recreation to serve on the Board of the South African Sports Commission. Between 2001 and 2008 she was involved in the development of unit standards for recreation and leisure and served as the chair of the Standards Generating Body. As a consultant with the South African Qualifications Authority, she generated vocational qualifications which are registered on the National Qualification Framework Levels 4, 5 and 6. In 2007 she joined the University of KwaZulu Natal as a Lecturer in Leisure Sciences. During her time at the University, as the Academic Co-ordinator for the Department of Sport Science, she performed a curriculum review, generated new modules, developed a new curriculum with three areas of specialisation. For the first time in the history of the department a new Leisure Science stream was offered to students as a specialisation. In 2010, as the founding member of the Leisure and Recreation Association of South Africa (LARASA), she was elected as the President. She serves as the member of the executive committee of the World Leisure Organisation. Maliga served as the host and chair of the 2016 LARASA World Leisure Congress held in Durban in June 2016. Her interests include curriculum development and standard setting, strategic planning and management, recreation therapy, inclusion and leisure as a means to transform people and spaces. Her research interests include leisure health and well being, human rights and leisure, social and environmental justice.
Fields of expertise: Education, Health and wellbeing, Inclusive social development / inclusive societies / social inclusion, Policy design and delivery, Social change / social transformations, Sustainable Development Goals, Youth