The practice, challenges and prospects of internal quality Assessment in ethiopian higher learning institutions: The case of arba minch university
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2009-06
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis ababa univeresty
Abstract
This st udy attempted at examining the practi ce of internal quality assessment and its
chall enges and prospects in Ethiopian HErs wi th pal1icular reference to Arba Minch Un iversity.
To thi s end, 'Mixed Research Design' was employed to grasp the general picture of the situati on.
Qualitative data were obtained via ten (10) interviews with the management of the Un iversity and
H ERQA and two (2) FGDs with instructors and students representatives. Questionnaires were
used to gather data fi'om 238 participants. These pal1icipants were composed of 128 prospective
grad uates, 76 instructors, and 34 university management. Qualitative descripti ons were pursued
to anal yze data from in-depth interviews and FGDs. Descriptive and inferential statistics were run
to analyze quantitative data obtained from questionnaires. The result of the study revealed that
important preconditions to effective internal quality assessment were either missing or not
properl y functioning. Limited aspects ofIQA strategies were practiced by the University. Exam
review practi ce, internship programs, and instructors ' performance evaluations were common
traditions. Program rev iew and external examiner system were occasionally used to make sure
that programs are up-to-the standard. No formal survey of graduate employment and employers
and students sati sfaction has ever been undertaken . Educational research practice, teaching
observat ion s, peer reviews of programs and assessment of resource adequacy were quite scanty.
Neglecting external constituencies, involvements in institutional quality assessments were limited
to internal stakehold ers. The use of quality assessment results to improve academic quality fa lls
short of the desired level. HERQA has contributed a lot towards the development of institutional
culture of quality and quality assessment. Notwithstanding this fact , a good number of challenges
were encountered during the quality audit process. The University was not well-prepared to the
audit in term s of human, material and financial resources. There was insuffici ent understanding
of the audit procedures due to lack of experiences and inadequacy of the training offered to
interna l quality auditors. HERQA' s quality audit did not consider the prevailing condition of the
uni versity when it used the quality audit procedure of developed countries. Lack of qualified and
competent staff due to unbridled staff turn-over was intensifi ed by invo lvement of MOE in staffrecruitm ent and appo intment policy of the University. This study recommends the diversi ficati on
of quali ty assessment strategies by the University and provisions of adequate support by HERQA
and MOE to the qua lity assurance efforts of the University. Moreover, the University has to
design strategies to recruit and retain qualified and competent staffby arrangin g incenti ve
mechanisms. Finally, HERQA has to revisit the audit methodology by gathering feedback from
HEls and drawi ng lesson from the first audit trial.
Description
Keywords
Ethiopian higher learning