1st Edition

Quality Assurance in Higher Education A Study of Developing Countries

By David Lim Copyright 2001

    This title was first published in 2001. Universities in developing countries have followed their counterparts in developed countries and adopted quality assurance to improve the quality of their activities. This text examines the wisdom of such a move when many of the conditions necessary for its success are not present. It concludes that quality assurance can be useful in developing countries because it shows how a university's seemingly disparate activities are related to one another to serve a common goal and how the quality of these can best be improved by using an integrated approach. Quality assurance also provides more focus and direction to the work of the traditional university system. However, it must be modified to suit the conditions prevailing in developing countries by being simple in design, modest in expectations and realistic in requirements.

    List of Figures -- List o f Tables -- Preface -- List of Abbreviations -- 1 Education and Economic Development -- 1.1 Development Performances of Developing Countries -- 1.2 Role of Education in Economic Development -- 1.3 Level and Composition of Educational Expenditure -- 1.4 Importance of Quality -- 2 Principles of Quality Assurance in Higher Education -- 2.1 Meaning of Quality in Higher Education -- 2.2 Instrumental Approach to Quality Assurance -- 2.3 Quality Audit System -- 2.4 Learning Organisation -- 2.5 Management Plans -- 2.6 Variations in Implementation -- 3 Quality Assurance in Higher Education in the United Kingdom -- 3.1 University Sector -- 3.2 Early Attempts at Quality Assurance -- 3.3 Quality Assurance in Teaching -- 3.4 Quality Assurance in Research -- 3.5 League Tables -- 4 Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Australia -- 4.1 University Sector -- 4.2 Early Attempts at Quality Enhancement -- 4.3 CQAHE Quality Audit, 1993-95 -- 4.4 1996-2000 Quality Assurance Framework -- 4.5 Australian University Quality Agency -- 5 Framework for Analysing Relevance -- 5.1 Quality Assurance and Economic Growth -- 5.2 Analytical Framework for Assessing Relevance -- 5.3 Example from Economics -- 6 Relevance of Quality Assurance in Developing Countries -- 6.1 Required Conditions for Quality Assurance -- 6.2 Actual Conditions in Developing Countries -- 6.3 Differences Between Required and Actual Conditions -- 7 Quality Assurance for Developing Countries -- 7.1 Impact of Conditions on Quality Assurance -- 7.2 Usefulness of Quality Assurance -- 7.3 System for Developing Countries -- 8 Quality in Papua New Guinean Higher Education -- 8.1 Development Performances -- 8.2 Higher Education Sector -- 8.3 Proposed Quality Assurance Initiatives -- 8.4 Quality in PNG Universities -- 8.5 Quality Assurance for PNG Universities -- 9 Future of Quality Assurance in Higher Education -- 9.1 Forces for Continuation -- 9.2 Conditions for Continuation -- Bibliography -- Index.

    Biography

    Griffith University.