Higher Education Quality Committee Research Articles

New perspectives on learning

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The absence of a \'norms and standards\' legislative framework for institutional accreditation in private higher education: a disconnection between policy, expectations and quality assurance practice

This article uses policy analysis to provide a rigorous reflection on the state of quality in private higher education institutions. It is based on a case study analysis of 20 private higher education institutions across South Africa that were evaluated for accreditation in 2003 and 2004. The analysis reveals that the majority of these institutions remain iII·informed regarding the norms and standards that shape the higher education teaching and learning enterprise and that which is expected of them before they apply for accreditation through the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC). The article investigates how the deafening policy silence on clear-cut norms and standards legislative framework for institutional accreditation of private higher education institutions, has created unevenness in the system and colluded with the creation of inequalities in private higher education. It also reflects on the trends of quality assurance inside these institutions within the context of untold policy expectations and it map the policy gaps that need to be closed. While it is acknowledged that the study focuses on institutions that seemingly provide a negative perspective while there are cutting-edge examples going unrecognised, this negative perspective as a unit of analysis necessitates the writing of the norms and standards legislative framework for institutional accreditation of private higher education institutions. The article concludes by identifying areas that need further investigation for purposes of policy formulation and the redesign of the quality assurance enterprise in South African private higher education.

Evaluating the MBA in South Africa

The Higher Education Quality Committee of the Council on Higher Education in South Africa recently carried out an evaluation of all MBA programmes offered in the country by South African as well as foreign higher education institutions. The MBA review is located within the context of the implementation of a comprehensive external quality assurance system in South African higher education, which is itself in a phase of radical restructuring. The article sets out the rationale for evaluating the MBA as well as the process and methodology that was followed by the HEQC. It also indicates some of the follow‐up steps that are being taken by the HEQC beyond the accreditation process, for example, the preparation of an analytical report on the State of MBA Provision in South Africa. The article concludes with reflections on some of the political, methodological and educational issues relating not only to the MBA but to quality assurance in a developing country context.

Quality enhancement in higher education in South Africa: why a paradigm shift is necessary

This article analyses the concept of quality in the context of South African higher education. The focus is on the new system of quality assurance for higher education soon to be implemented by the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC). The new quality system is subjected to analysis, and compared with not only the theory and practice of quality management, but also the systems used in this regard by higher education in other countries. An important finding is that the new system for South Africa tends to be bureaucratic and emphasises accountability, which limits its potential for transformation. Real enhancement of quality is an internally driven process and will be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve through external quality assurance. The current perspective on quality assurance in higher education in South Africa requires a paradigm shift which will turn it into a process in support of a culture of continuous improvement, and which engages institutions in totality and in an integrated manner. (South African Journal of Higher Education: 2003 17 (3): 129-136)

Quality Assurance in South African Higher Education: A new beginning

Far from being near its end, quality assurance in South African higher education is about to embark on a new beginning. A brief overview of approaches to quality assurance in South Africa up to 2000 is provided, with specific reference to the impact of the historical legacy of apartheid and the university-technikon divide. The new beginning relates to the establishment in 2001 of the country's first sector-wide external quality agency, the Higher Education Quality Committee. The challenges that face this statutory authority are critically examined.