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Quality Assurance: Does it leads to excellence or decadence?BY: Guest | Category: Business and Finance | Post Date: 2009-09-30
Author - Florante C. Poso, MCE, PhD: This article centers on the issue whether application of quality assurance in the academe will turn to nowhere or will it lead towards excellence. Conflicting evidences on the impact of assessment in the education arena becomes a focal issue worldwide because of the aim of being accredited internationally. As quality assurance in higher education is gaining a wider acceptance across meridian and latitudes, it is the desire of every institution to indulge into the concept of quality. Quality assurance had been the ‘talk of the town' issue throughout the globe, most specifically in the educational arena, wherein the aim towards international accreditation becomes the priority. Issues on quality had been a long time subject to ponder on since it has to do with standards and following quality models that fits the education environment. It opens an idea whether quality assurance is leading nowhere, as pointed out by Downey (2007) that quality assurance is a little bit a boon, and a little bit a boondoggle. But should I say it can neither be one, since educational institutions should center its vision towards excellence because quality had been part of its social and moral responsibility. Every college and university is destined to where and what? The development of quality assessment is not only connected to the expansion of the higher education sector, but also to the limited amount of public resources provided for it and to the demands of internationalization and international competition (Hartwig, 2002: 80). Eventhough the vision and mission of every educational institution has been developed in a more splendid ways and structure, still more and more impediment distracts the attainment of its destiny towards excellence. Quality assurance is linked to monitoring which creates as negative response to stakeholders. This was supported by the statement of Srikanthan (2002) that quality monitoring creates an initial shock reaction, but it rarely translates into a process of ongoing improvement. It may be effective in the short run in getting quality on the agenda, but it fails to ensure an on going response at the grass roots level. Overall, the effect of evaluation tends to be generally one of creating a reactive orientation on the part of the schools. Another reason that could dither the school's transformation is that universities and colleges are integrated into the economic and political systems of society, so it is not surprising to find that they are influenced by the prevailing ideas that shape the way business and government are done (Downey, 2007). Degree of influence to the other sector of society pressures the institution to move forward to their expectations that becomes a more problematic scenario to public institutions that could hardly get financial support. Even those who got support from funding bodies, surveys from education institutions concluded that the adoption of TQM in the academy is both a myth and illusion (Srikanthan (2), 2002:1), which seems to wrap up that quality management may no longer applicable to promote excellence. He even confirmed that attempts to apply the quality assurance models from industry into higher education have not been successful. There is a rationale for separately addressing the service and education functions with appropriate sets of criteria. But Downey strongly argues that still it is manifested that educational institutions survive and prosper because their consistent, mission-driven values have been internalized by their participants and confirmed as important by the culture in which they function. Thus, the destiny of quality assurance is attributed to the level of participation of the stakeholders that govern the institution. Participation, was confirmed by Mrozek in his statement that for quality improvement to be successful, senior management must encourage and motivate the staff and implement their recommendations whole-heartedly. Many industrial organizations have failed to implement effective quality programs because proposals from staff were not adopted. Downey stressed that only one of the 12 largest business firms in 1900 still existed in 2000. But each one of the twelve largest public and private universities in 1900 exists and still thrives one hundred years later. Because a higher percentage of participation among stakeholders had been attributed to such accomplishment. This was concurred by Patil that students are, unarguably, the most important stakeholders of higher education systems and also that of quality assurance mechanisms therein. No question on this, since they (learners) should be the center in the educative process that brings out the main purpose of the existence if every college or university. The primary substantiation on which the quality of teaching and learning can be evaluated can be best reflected from the views of students. Staff is also part of the assessment environment. It is essential that maximum effort needs to be utilized on the part of all the personnel and services of the educational institution to make the QA system worthwhile (Mrozek et. al). Another stakeholder that should be given emphasis on quality is the graduates. Mondoh stressed that one way in which relevance of university education can be addressed is through the demand for graduates and employers. It can also be judged by the quality of research conducted and its utilization. However, the rapid expansion of University education has been associated with a decline in the relevance and quality of education offered. In conclusion, I agree on these three reasons that we strongly need quality assurance, 1) For economic productivity, 2) To be properly accountable, 3) To help us the truth about ourselves. Quality assurance should create an atmosphere of friendly feed backing that results to higher level of service oriented provider of knowledge and skills. It is cognizant that everyone should ensure that the data we congregate, the information we develop and process, the number we masticate, the analysis we execute, the indicators we select, the benchmarks we set, all contribute to the paragon that our institution wanted to embrace - excellence. As Mrozek said that the QA techniques should be used to predict, monitor and verify efficiency of any investments or enhancements into educational processes. In this new era of knowledge society, quality assurance has become the new key concept. Its aim is to create a new -culture of quality- or perhaps more accurately, a pervasive -culture of evaluation- (Teichler, 2005). As quality assurance in higher education is gaining a wider acceptance across meridian and latitudes, it is my desire that every institution should indulge into the concept of quality which may lead to their destiny of achieving excellence in providing better service to the future bulk of manpower in whatever philosophy or quality model they may embrace as long that it fits to their environment. References: Lydia Hartwig, -Quality assessment and quality assurance in higher institution in Germany-, presented in the 24th annual EAIR Forum in Prague, 8 - 11 September 2002. G. Srikanthan, -Developing a Model for Quality in Higher Education-, Centre for Management Quality Research, Australia. (1) G. Srikanthan, -Developing a Holistic Model for Quality in Higher Education-, Centre for Management Quality Research, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. 2002 Dr. James Downey, -Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Boon or Boondodggle?-, presented in Higher Education Quality Council in Ontario, Canadian Institutional Research and Planning Association, October 22, 2007 Zbigniew Mrozek, Osei Adjei, and Ali Mansour, -Quality Assurance in Higher Education-, 4th International Conference, Computer Aided Engineering Education (CAEE) 1997. Helen O. Mondoh, -Quality Assurance in Higher Education: The Case of Egerton-, Directorate of Quality Assurance, Egerton University, Njoro Dr. Jagannath Patil, -Student Participation in Quality Assurance-, Asia Pacific Quality Network Reinhald Kreckel, -Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Vocational Education and Training-, Graz Conference, 11-12 May 2006, Wittenberg, Germany Article Source: http://www.saching.com About Author / Additional Info: Mr. Poso, Jr., MCE, PhD (Master in Civil Engineering, Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management) Lecturer-Department of Engineering/ Quality Assurance Specialist – QA Unit Salalah College of Technology Sultanate of Oman Email: don2_poso[at]yahoo[dot]com Additional Articles: * Jealousy in Relationship * Some words for those, who got pain in love * Important Considerations While Starting an Online Business! * UK's, USA's and India – What sets them apart? * You won't believe (Potterman) Does this article violate or infringe on your copyright ? 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