Browsing by Author "Simukungwe, Mudenda"
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- ItemAn interpretive study of quality assurance in Zambian higher education: Implications for teaching and learning(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-12) Simukungwe, Mudenda; Waghid, Yusef; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.ENGLISH ABSTRACT : There is emerging consensus internationally on the value of quality assurance in higher education, because of concerns on the global transformation of the higher education system from an elite higher education system to a mass higher education system. The higher education system transformed from being an elite system to a mass higher education system because of the increasing social demand for higher education worldwide. The higher education system is central because of its ability to advance socio-economic development initiatives, which could possibly be constrained without assurance of the quality of higher education. Being part of the global system, the Zambian higher education system was affected by massification and was liberalised to accommodate the effects of mass higher education. Liberalisation allowed participation of private providers in offering higher education. However, the National Policy on Education in Zambia does not explicitly state how quality for the university system is to be assured. The vagueness is problematic, firstly because of the liberalisation. Without adequate quality assurance, there is a danger that private providers might offer inferior qualifications to unsuspecting cohorts of students. Secondly, there is no evidence that specific quality assurance studies in Zambian universities have been undertaken, or that policy has had any influence on practice. In this undermining context, it became necessary to undertake a study on quality assurance for Zambian universities. The question addressed through this study was: How do the clarification and implementation of quality assurance strategies enable the Zambian Higher Education Authority to ensure quality educational offerings in both public and private universities? The interpretive methodology was used with attendant methods of conceptual analysis and deconstruction analysis to answer the research question posed. The interpretive methodology was useful because it argues on the meaningfulness of human action and seeks to understand the intentions underlying the actor’s reasoning in a particular context. Understanding of the meaningfulness of human actions and intentions was crucial in establishing the intent of policy in assuring quality. The use of attendant methods supported the clarification of concepts and detailed analysis of policy text, to enable me to reach a conclusion on how quality was being ensured for the Zambian university system. This study found that quality was defined in terms of inputs, process and outputs. This understanding was demonstrated by the implemented strategies, which focus on the inputs and process to assure the outputs. The study also established that of the three strategies implemented by the Higher Education Authority, none is comprehensive in assuring the quality of the Zambian university system in its entirety but assures quality in private universities only. As the study established the extent to which the implemented strategies are assuring quality, it provides insights to policy makers to strengthen policy on quality assurance to enable the Higher Education Authority to reach what it claims to be, namely the National Quality Assurance System for Higher Education in Zambia.