• Increase font size
  • Default font size
  • Decrease font size

Sustainable Quality Culture in East African Institutions through Centralised Units

In Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, national accreditation bodies, Educational Councils and universities lack the capacities to implement quality assurance mechanisms that are crucial to ensure the quality of institutional services and teaching. The main obstacle to setting up an internal quality culture and integrated quality units at the universities is the lack of qualified staff responsible for their management and administration. To tackle these is- sues, the “Sustainable Quality Culture in East African Institutions through Centralised Units” project will increase regional cooperation in academic quality assurance, support the development of a coherent quality assur- ance policy and strengthen the implementation of integrated quality units within three East African universities.

To this end, the project will strengthen the institutional capacities of three East African Universities and train their management and administrative staff to implement the quality assurance policy, apply the models for assessment of academic programmes and institutional services as well as to manage quality office within the universities. This will be achieved through institutional cooperation and sharing of knowledge between Moi University in Kenya, University of Makerere in Uganda, University of Mzumbe in Tanzania. The partnership will be supported by the expertise of the University of Alicante in Spain and the German Accreditation Council.

Training university staff to run quality units

In the first phase of the project, the partners will strengthen managerial and administrative capacities in implementing internal quality assurance and assessment techniques within the three East African Universities. Here, a training programme for top level management staff and staff of the Quality Units will be developed and carried out in the form of theoretical and practical workshops.

The workshops will train the university staff in techniques and models for assessments of both academic programmes and institutional services and will focus on subjects such as building Quality Culture within HEIs, developing a strategic plan for quality assurance, implementing a quality culture within HEIs and running quality units.

Futheremore, in order to set up sustainable structures for the implementation of quality culture, technical infrastructure of internal quality units will also be enhanced. IT equipement will be purchased and installaled, and information systems, management software and websites will be developed and implemented for three Quality Units.

Developing quality culture strategies

During the second phase of the project, the project partners will develop and adopt a long-term strategy for the implementation of quality culture within EAUs. This will contribute to increased efficiency, strategic thinking and ideas for self-improvement and will include drafting and publication of a Quality Manual for Implementation of Quality culture and of Quality Strategic Plans for the three East African Universities.

The partners will also develop models for assessment of academic programmes and institutional services at the three East African Universities. They will jointly adapt methodologies for institutional and service quality assessment and set up assessment committees at each partner university involving quality units’ staff, faculty deans and student representatives.

Furthermore, there will be pilot assessments of two study programmes and two university services using the developed quality model. Here, methods and processes for students and teachers involvement in self-assessment practices will be tested. Lessons learnt from these pilot assessments will be used for improvement of quality assurance methods at the three partner universities. Additionally, in order to increase awareness for quality culture, a Guide for the Promotion of Institutional Quality Culture in African Universities will be drafted and disseminated.

 

Project Coordinator University of Alicante, Spainua
Partners
  • Makerere University, Uganda
  • Mzumbe University, Tanzania
  • Moi University, Kenya
  • Association of African Universities,Ghana
  • Inter-University Council for East-Africa, Uganda
Associates
  • German Accreditation Council,Germany
Contact

Roberto Escarré,

University of Alicante

Tel: 0034 96 590 9718

Fax: 0034 96 590 9715

Email: r.escarre@ua.es

Website: http://www.afriqunits.org

 

Better quality teaching and research

Extensive trainings will result in empowering the managerial and administrative staff to independently implement internal quality assurance and evaluation. The project will contribute to increased innovation, efficiency, strategic thinking and ideas for self- improvement through development and adoption of a long-term strategy for quality assurance at East African HEIs.

The project will also lead to increased awareness for quality culture of other Universities in the region, National Education Councils of Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya as well as respective Ministries of Education, through extensive institutional networking and sharing of best practices.

In the long term, the implementation of a coherent quality culture within three East African Universities will benefit the entire student populations of the respective universities, employers and the society as a whole through the improvement of the quality of teaching and research.

The partners will also develop models for assessment of academic programmes and institutional services at the three East African Universities. They will jointly adapt methodologies for institutional and service quality assessment and set up assessment committees at each partner university involving quality units’ staff, faculty deans and student representatives.

Furthermore, there will be pilot assessments of two study programmes and two university services using the developed quality model. Here, methods and processes for students and teachers involvement in self-assessment practices will be tested. Lessons learnt from these pilot assessments will be used for improvement of quality assurance methods at the three partner universities. Additionally, in order to increase awareness for quality culture, a Guide for the Promotion of Institutional Quality Culture in African Universities will be drafted and disseminated.

Grant:
Project duration:
EU funding: EUR 410.256,44
Total budget: EUR 482.654,64
Project contact:

Roberto Escarré,
University of Alicante
Tel: 0034 96 590 9718
Fax: 0034 96 590 9715
Email: r.escarre@ua.es
Website: www.ua.es

Afriqunits
Carolina Madeleine

Bienvenue sur EDULINK

 

acp_logoeu_logo

... financé par l’Union Européenne et mise en œuvre par le Secrétariat ACP – le Programme cofinance des projets de coopération entre institutions d’enseignement supérieur (IES) des états du Groupe ACP, de l’Union Européenne et d'autres pays eligibles. Plus sur EDULINK...

Members

Joindre Edulink

Subscribe to the newsletter

En Evidence

  • L'ancien site d'EDULINK est toujours disponible, pour le moment!

Partners Map