Approaches to quality assurance in higher education

Abstract EN

Despite all attempts to define it, ‘Quality’ is still a concept that lacks a common definition applicable in all fields, for every phenomenon or any subject.

Yet, there a universal consensus on the positive connotations of this terms that are conjoined with ‘excellence’, ‘good practice’, ‘well-being’, and so forth.

As far as higher education is concerned, quality relates to all aspects of the teaching-learning process as swell all aspects of the institutional performance.

In this sense quality acquires a many meanings as any as these aspects involved.

Apart from the terminological complexities of this issue, all those involved in higher education–whether students, institutions, faculty staff, or other stakeholders–pay great attention to the techniques, approaches, or mechanism for assessing the various aspects of their academic and institutional performance In this paper, the writer explores the various approaches adopted for assessing the academic and institutional quality in the field of higher education.

As the writer strongly rejects the ‘One size fits all’ approach in assessing higher education quality, an attempt is made here to show how each of the available approaches fits with meaning for measuring a certain aspect of this quality.

However, the issue of defining quality needs to be settled as is empirically impossible to assess something that cannot be defined or measured.

This paper seeks answers to the following key questions which conceal a considerable numbers of sub questions : How can we assess the quality of education offered by an HEI ? How can all stakeholders be reliably assured that quality learning is taking place at an HEI ?.