Quality Assurance In Higher Education

This article attempts an approach designed to explain quantity assurance audit and usages application in institutions of higher learning both in technical colleges and in Universities. It envisagethat quality of these institutions may be assured throug an audit of course desogn, teaching and learning process and support services. This approach emphasis the fact there are various country points in the processes of delivering education and training and they must ne audited, not only in ensure capability and credibility but also to confirm continuity that the technical and higher educations system as a primary provider of the knowledgeable professional to the nation.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Today we are well aware that we are living in an area of intensifying

QA is a way of preventing mistakes or defects in products and avoining problems when delivering sevices to customes. QA refers to administrative and provedural activities implimented in a quality system so that requirements and goals for a products, service or activity will be fulfile. It is the systematic measurement comparison with a standard, monitaring of processes and an associated feedback loop that confers error prevention. This can be contrasted with quality control, which is focused on process outputs. Terms used in quality assureance are employed in a variety of ways and have different meanings in different parts of the word. For example, in the United States the term “accrediation’ refers to a process of review and assessment of quality that resultin a decision about whether or not to certify the academic standard of an institution. In the United kingdom “acceleration” retired to a Code of Practice by which an institution without its own degree awarding powers is given authority by a university or other awarding institution to offer its degree to students meeting the

Technical and higher education institutions are only as good as the quality of their teaching faculty. Theyare the heart of the institutions that products, and service to the institutions, commonly and nations. Two principles included in QA are ‘fit or purpose”, the products should be suitable for the inteded purpose and right first time”, mistakes should be eliminated. In order to assure quality in industries, quality audit is normally deployed. Quaality audit is the process of sustematic examination of quality system carried out by an internal or external quality auditor or an audit team. It is an important part of organization’s quality management system and is a key element in the ISO quality system standard ISO 9001. Audit is a process of review of an institution or program to determine if its curriculumn, faculty, staff, and infrastracture meet its stated aims and objectives. It is an evaluation of an institution or its programs in relation to its own mission, goals, and stated standards. The assessors are looking primary at the progress of the institution in achieving its own goals. An audit focuses on an institution’s own standards and goals and its success in attaining them. Auditing is not identical with planned and documented activity perfomed to