Objectives of quality assurance pdf

Some of the frequently quoted negative factors are shortage of educational materials, ineffective teaching and learning processes, poor working conditions of both teachers and quality controllers, poor maintenance of physical facilities, ineffective school management and inadequate external support. Firstly, there is low morale among inspectors, which is a result of such factors as poor conditions of service [salary, housing and promotions]; inadequate professional preparation in terms of lack of training and in-service training; lack of logistic support; and friction with administrators over differences in vision.

Secondly, there is critical shortage of financial and material resources for the inspectorate. This commonly manifests in form of shortage of financial resources for inspection; and critical shortage of stationery for production of reports and circulars. Thirdly, there is unsatisfactory communication system which results in poor information. This is as a result of poor transport systems; critical shortage of transport for inspectors; and bureaucratic nature resulting in delays in 13 feedback to schools and collection of data from schools.

Fourthly, there is critical Page shortage of teaching and learning resources. Fifthly, poor physical infrastructure such as shortage of classroom accommodation, existence of classrooms without window panes and badly maintained schools can demotivate teachers and learners.

Sixthly, if the management of a school is poor, it is very unlikely that it would achieve its aims and objectives. Thus, an efficient headship is likely to produce expected results in a school. On the other hand, inefficient management could lead to lack of excellent achievement by most pupils in examinations; lack of excellent performance in games, sports, athletics, drama, debates, music, festivals, and poor behaviour among students.

The role of an inspector of Schools here is to be aware of this management factor and to think of ways of ensuring that schools are well managed. Lastly, it is important for parents and communities to support schools within their localities by ensuring that vandalism does not occur, pupils receive inoculation to prevent certain diseases and that pupils receive good nutrition. The role of quality assurance officer is to ensure that every school has a strong PTA in other to attract supports as well as ensure that a check is made on the schools concerned.

Levin and Lockheed [in Lewin, ], made a comprehensive collection of studies on effective schools which is worthy of reference in this paper. On the side of facilitating conditions, three vital aspects are identified, namely: [1] level of community involvement including community contributions, school contributions and parental involvement, [2] professionalism of schools comprising effective leadership, teacher commitment, competence and accountability, and [3] flexible approaches to organization, teaching and learning including the ability to adjust curricula and organizational arrangements to reflect local 14 conditions and adapt teaching methods to suit different groups of learners.

Length of instructional programme [time] 86 2. Pupil feeding programmes [trition] 83 3. School library activity [textbooks] 83 4. Years of teacher training [teacher training] 71 5. Pupil grade repetition 20 7. Reduced class size 24 8. Teachers salaries 36 9. Science laboratories 36 Source: Lewin [] 7.

Initiatives and strategies for assuring quality in education Although professional supervision and support services for teachers exist for long in almost all states in Nigeria, these services have been ignored, increasingly so since resources have become more scarce.

In fact, one of the major reasons why the quality of public education has been weakened in Nigeria is precisely related to the weakening of these services. Consequently, many countries in their attempts to reform and innovate supervision, are increasingly relying on in-school or community-based strategies such as resource centres, school clusters, in-school supervision by the principal or by peers, and school-based management.

All these initiatives and strategies aiming at complementing external and the reinforcement of internal quality-control mechanisms have their strengths and weaknesses. These innovations can be grouped into devolution of supervision to the local level; changing role of supervisor; openness and transparency initiatives; whole school supervision concept; and training initiatives.

As far as devolution of supervision is concerned, the two major initiatives are school clusters as well school autonomy and in- school supervision. For better school programmes, clusters of schools can be formed with the aim of strengthening local capacities for in-service training for teachers and other personnel, carrying out instructional supervision in schools, as well as sharing experience and resources.

Without doubt, this programme has the potential to improve the quality of education. Each school has a board composed of members of the administration and teacher representatives. It has been found that this board is more effective in the urban than rural areas owing to less retention of experienced head teachers.

Effects of members of a functional committee could result in improvements in school infrastructure and school-community relations. The aim is to strengthen capacities of school heads by preparing seven modules to serve as resource materials for this category of managers. The modules cover, among other subjects, core elements of supervision aimed at improving management and professional skills of school heads.

Lastly, there is the concept of whole school supervision in which there is an increased emphasis on whole school rather than individual teacher supervision. The focus of the whole school supervision is on curriculum implementation and innovation, management of school, relations and developmental programmes. On the basis of findings from a visitation panel, strong recommendations are sent to upper level for consideration and probable action 8.

Quality assurance at the tertiary education level Tertiary education comprises higher education and further education. Higher education is made up of universities, polytechnics, monotechnics and colleges of education while further education consists of post-secondary trade and vocational training schools. Quality assurance at the tertiary level of education has its distinctive that has made it necessary to devote special attention to it in this paper.

Challenges facing the quality of tertiary education in Nigeria are common irrespective of their type and ownership. These include the tendency to increase access without much attention to quality issues, rapid expansion without adequate strategic plan to ensure quality; illegal and corrupt practices by parents, students and staff at various stages in the process of admission, administration, instruction, examination, supervision, certification, graduation and absorption into the labour market.

People want to know the result of spending so much on tertiary education particularly when it is widely recognized that what is required to finance a university student could comfortably be spent to provide primary education for about 32 pupils.

What people see in form of the moral standard of graduates, labour market outcomes and scholastic performance have made them to become more critical about the relevance of education at the university level. Moreover, there is an increasing international comparability of educational activities at the university level. The Internet as well as the free movement of labour, information, goods and services have opened up universities to international comparison and there are international standards against which all universities in the world are now being measured.

There are three mechanisms for measuring and assuring quality of tertiary education. Firstly, we have the meritocratic parlance where we talk about agency agenda. A regulatory agency also regulatory authority, regulatory body or regulator is a public authority or government agency responsible for exercising autonomous authority over some area of human activity in a regulatory or supervisory capacity. An independent regulatory agency is a regulatory agency that is independent from other branches or arms of the government.

Regulatory agencies deal in the area of administrative law— regulation or rulemaking codifying and enforcing rules and regulations and imposing supervision or oversight for the benefit of the public at large. The existence of independent regulatory agencies is justified by the complexity of certain regulatory and supervisory tasks that require expertise, the need for rapid implementation of public authority in certain sectors, and the drawbacks of political interference. Some independent regulatory agencies perform investigations or audits, and some are authorized to fine the relevant parties and order certain measures.

Regulatory agencies are usually a part of the executive branch of the government, or they have statutory authority to perform their functions with oversight from the legislative branch. Their actions are generally open to legal review. Regulatory authorities are commonly set up to enforce standards and safety, or to oversee use of public goods and regulate commerce. To ensure that it does fill its role, a regulatory agency uses mechanisms such as the following: [1] transparency of information and decision-making; [2] procedures of consultation and participation; [3] requirement that administrators give reasons explaining their actions; [4] requirement that administrators follow principles that promote non-arbitrary and [5] responsive decisions and arrangements for review of administrative decisions by courts or other bodies.

Lastly, there is the individualistic parlance which involves self assessment. The problem with self assessment in Nigeria is the high level of dishonesty that can thwart honest assessment from individuals concerned. Agencies for quality assurance in tertiary education In Nigeria the external agencies that have statutory responsibilities include West African Examination Council [WAEC] and National Examination Commission [NECO] for ensuring quality of external examinations that qualify people to be admitted to tertiary institutions of learning.

Joint Admission and Matriculation Board is also responsible for ensuring the quality of entrants into universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in Nigeria. Informal agencies such as employers of labour are also used. The internal agencies for assuring academic quality at the tertiary level in Nigeria are mainly Senate, quality assurance unit [which is not yet generally popular], external examiner system, professional association such as Teachers Council of Nigeria [TCN] and community-based organizations [this is not yet popular in Nigeria].

Although still under consideration, students can also be used to ensure quality of education at the tertiary level. Legal Framework for quality assurance in tertiary education There are legal mandates for external and internal quality assurance at the tertiary level in Nigeria. All the external quality assurance agencies are set up by legislative arrangements to assess programmes and institutions, approve new programmes and institutions, set minimum academic standards, advise government, rank institutions, monitor performance, recognize degree, evaluate transfer, approve admissions, standardize designations and titles, ensure equitable access, monitor part-time staff level, coordinates external examiners, and approve foreign programmes and institutions.

Within the institutions of higher learning, there are statues enabling various internal quality assurance agencies to operate their mandates.

The internal agencies have the authority to build the capacity of their staff on quality assurance, recognize diploma, certificates and degrees; review programmes; and suggest improvements. Inputs to the quality assurance in tertiary education Some inputs are required to ensure effective and efficient quality assurance at the tertiary level.

These enabling inputs that must be made available to external quality assurance agencies include institutional mission and purpose; planning and evaluation documents; evidence of staff and student quality, library and information resources; physical and technological resources; finances; integrity; quality assurance mechanisms at the institutional level; and evidence of community services and industry links. Process of quality assurance in tertiary education Although the three major approaches to quality assurance at the tertiary institutions of learning are accreditation, assessment and audit, the process of external quality assurance at the tertiary level includes peer review; self assessment; site visits; report writing and submission.

The accreditation process involves permission to apply, provisional registration, approval for candidacy, accreditation proper, and reaccreditation after a given number of years. At the institutional level, the process involves peer review; self assessment; board of studies meetings at the departmental, faculty and university levels.

The Senate is the final quality assurance mechanism for all academic matters at the institutional level. Feedback mechanisms for quality assurance in tertiary education Continuous improvements require periodic feedback and feed-forward mechanisms such as reports from agencies, follow-up activities, remedial activities, sanctions and enforcement. Latest Earthquakes Chat Share. Yes, you can plan ahead for high-quality data! A Quality Assurance Plan QAP is used to define the criteria and processes that will ensure and verify that data meet specific data-quality objectives throughout the Data Lifecycle.

With a focus on quality goals, criteria, assessment, and validation methods, a QAP covers the full data lifecycle, from Acquisition through Publication, and can:. Science Explorer. Mission Areas. Unified Interior Regions. Science Centers. Frequently Asked Questions. Educational Resources. Multimedia Gallery. Web Tools. Educational quality assessment 7. Reporting of annual educational quality 8. Maintenance of educational quality assurance system Ministerial regulations on the systems, rules, and methods for educational quality assurance in higher education institutions B.

Philosophy, resolution, objectives and operational plan 2. Learning and teaching 3. Student development activities 4. Research 5. Academic services for society 6. Upholding art and culture 7. Administration and management 8. Finance and budget 9. Educational quality assurance systems and mechanisms 3. The Objectives of Educational Quality Assurance 1. To know the levels of quality of educational institutions in performing various missions. Encouraging educational institutions to develop educational quality and management efficiency continuously 3.

To know the progress in educational quality development of educational institutions. To report the condition of quality as well as standards of educational institutions to the public and relevant agencies. To verify the actual conditions of operations of educational institutions and evaluate educational quality based on educational standards effectively according to specified guidelines and methods and inconsistency with educational quality assurance systems of educational institutions and the primary affiliation.

To obtain information that helps reflect the strengths — the points which improve educational institutions, the conditions of success, and the causes of problems. To provide suggestions on improving and developing educational quality for educational institutions and the primary affiliation. To encourage educational institutions to develop quality and internal quality assurance continuously. To report the results of evaluating educational quality and standards of educational institutions to the public and related agencies.

The Educational Quality Assurance Process 1. Quality Control Quality Control is the operational process of the primary affiliation and educational institutions for determining educational standards in line with national educational standards. After that, the primary affiliation and educational institutions make a plan as operational guidelines on the development of quality into standards specified in the development of curricula, media, teacher and personal development, statutes of educational institutions, teaching regulations, guidance, educational management, and evaluation.

In this regard, emphases will be placed on the systems and mechanisms of operations according to the plan, monitoring the operations seriously and continuously.

Quality Assessment Quality assessment is the evaluation of quality levels for specific activities in the organizations such as quality of educational management, quality of research, quality of teaching. ONESQA is an assessor who evaluates and certifies that educational institutions provide quality educational management according to the established educational standards. Benefits of Educational quality assurance 1. Continuous improvement of quality of educational institutions into international standards 2.

Efficient use of resources in the management of higher education institutions 3.