Enhancing Quality Culture within Higher Education

Institutions
*Dr. Vandana Goswami
**Ms. Swati Gupta

Article Published in: Education at Crossroads (ISSN: 0976-4720), Oct- Dec’2010, Vol. 02,
Issue.02, Page No.36-43

Abstract- The high magnitude of the need for quality in higher education, particularly in the

developing nations is well recognized by the system. Quality is a concept; it is a philosophy; it is

a journey; it is also what we practice. Quality simply as ‘fitness for purpose at minimum cost to

society’. In developing countries, where resources are scare, countries should not waste them on

institutions that are not fulfilling important purposes. For India today, quality in higher education

is a key priority, and this must be achieved by keeping in mind the issues of relevance, costs,

equity and international standards. Then the question arises automatically-How do we promote a

culture of quality within higher education institutions?

That can be done by - Continuous improvement is an intervention to stop this and

increase the quality. The process of continuous improvement is known as Deming’s P-D-C-A

cycle. That is- P (Plan) → D (Do) →C (Check) → A (Act); Create an environment for learning

and staff development; Adopt new philosophies and technologies that can improve quality,

*Dr. Vandana Goswami, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, Banasthali University, Banasthali,e-mail-
tovandana2020@yahoo.com.
**Ms. Swati Gupta, Lecturer, Anand College of Education, Agra, e-mail-swati_1985@rediffmail.com
 Encourage teamwork and participatory management; Develop a communication strategy

to report progress and results; Recognize the efforts of staff without creating a competitive

environment; Encourage innovations and self-evaluation; Emphasize ‘management for quality’

rather than ‘Management of quality’; Promotes the 3 C's: Communication, Community and

Content; Capacitating teachers to be effective as facilitators of learning; Accredit all institutions

of higher learning under the NAAC within a stipulated time; Make the teachers who are in

service accountable for their works through a monitoring cell; Structures and mechanisms to

ensure efficient monitoring.

Enhancing Quality Culture within Higher

Education Institutions

Higher education being a important phase has to ascertain that it impacts not only the conceptual

and technical knowhow of the students but also help them develop holistically fit to face the ever

increasing challenges of a society. Quality is a concept; it is a philosophy; it is a journey; it is

also what we practice. Quality simply as ‘fitness for purpose at minimum cost to society’. It is

given and considered as the highest possible standard. Ultimate quotient development of the

child when there is quality in education. Complete development of the child is social, physical,

intellectual, moral, emotional and spiritual development.

In developing countries, where resources are scare, countries should not waste them on

institutions that are not fulfilling important purposes. For India today, quality in higher education

is a key priority, and this must be achieved by keeping in mind the issues of relevance, costs,

equity and international standards.

In terms of the level, higher education includes college and university teaching-learning towards

which students’ progress to attain higher educational qualification. Higher education imparts in-

depth knowledge and understanding so as to advance the students to new frontiers of knowledge

in different walks of life. One of the basic objectives of Higher Education is to increase the

resolving power of the human mind. Two other important aspects of Higher Education are to

inculcate the basic tenets of independent thinking and to enliven the indomitable character of the

human mind to the young and talented students.

It is about knowing more and more about less and less. It develops the student’s ability to

question and seek truth and makes him/her competent to critique on contemporary issues. It

broadens the intellectual powers of the individual within a narrow specialization, but also gives

him/her a wider perspective of the world around.

According to Ronald Barnett (1992) there are four predominant concepts of higher education:

(i) Higher education as the production of qualified human resources. In this view, higher

education is seen as a process in which the students are counted as “products” absorbed in the

labor market. Thus, higher education becomes input to the growth and development of business

and industry.

(ii) Higher education as training for a research career. In this view, higher education is

preparation for qualified scientists and researchers who would continuously develop the frontiers

of knowledge. Quality within this viewpoint is more about research publication and transmission

of the academic rigour to do quality research.

(iii) Higher education as a matter of extending life chances. In this view, higher education is seen

as an opportunity to participate in the developmental process of the individual through a flexible

continuing education mode.

Therefore, it can be said that higher education is the backbone of any society. It is the quality of

higher education that decides the quality of human resources in a country. Higher education is a

complex system facilitating teaching, research, extension, and understanding. Quality in higher

education means the educational process is such that it ensures students achieve their goals and

thereby satisfies the needs of the society and help in national development.

Now, everyone is worry about quality. The ‘quality’ of Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) is a

major concern: for actual and potential students, for government, for industry and for the staff of

the HEIs themselves. There are so many reasons for this. The reasons are:

Competition: We are entering a new regime, where competition among educational institutions

for students and funds will be highly significant. In order to survive, educational institutions need

to worry about their quality.

Customer satisfaction: Students, Parents or Sponsoring agencies as customer of the

educational institutions are now highly conscious of their rights as getting value for their money

and time spent. They are now demanding good quality teaching and receiving employment skills,

and thus we should constantly worry about the relevance of our courses and programmes .

Maintaining standards: As educational institutions, we are always concerned about setting our

own standard and maintaining it continuously year after year. In order to maintain the standard,

we should consciously make efforts to improve quality of the educational transactions as well as

the educational provisions and facilities.

Improve employee morale and motivation: our concern for quality as an institution will

improve the morale and motivation of the staff in performing their duties and responsibilities. If

a quality system is in place, the internal processes would be systematic making every department

complementing each others’ service domain and helping in developing customer satisfaction,

leading to high morale.

Image and Visibility: Quality institutions have capacity to attract better stakeholder support,

like getting merited students from far and near, increased donations/ grants from philanthropists/

funding agencies and higher employer interest for easy placement of graduates.

Therefore, the question arises automatically-

o How do we promote a culture of quality within higher education institutions?

The answer is-

o Continuous improvement is an intervention to increase the quality. The process of

continuous improvement is known as Deming’s P-D-C-A cycle. That is-P (Plan) → D

(Do) →C (Check) → A (Act).

P (Plan) - Gathering of data to identify and define the issues/problems that need

improvement and identify ways to achieve them.

- Establishment of IQAC. IN India, NAAC proposes that every accredited institution

should establish the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) to continuously improve

quality as ‘enhancement’ and sustain the work of the institution. IQAC will facilitate the

process of internalization of the quality and play a catalytic role in performance

improvement of institution. All the accredited institutions with IQAC are expected to
 submit annual quality assurance reports to NAAC as self reviewed progress reports. IQAC

will create internal awareness on quality issues and also establish credibility for the

external quality evaluation.

The processes may have the following elements:

• Quality assurance of student assessments.

• Quality assurance of staff.

• Quality assurance of facilities.

• Quality assurance of student support.

• Specific Instruments for Quality Assurance.

- Commitment of leadership to quality assurance.

- Annual strategic plan for improvement of quality towards excellence.

- Quality systems are in place.

D (Do) - Implementing the plan by using a trial run, a test group.

- Deployment of qualified and appropriate workforce as per need.

- Assuring systematic implementation of planned processes.

- Use of appropriate technology.

C (Check)- Analyzing the results to see if there is good agreement between original goals

and what was actually achieved; make adjustment if necessary.

- Review of outputs.

- Measure against strategic plan.

- Report and disseminate the lesson learnt organization wide.

A (Act) – Depending on the results from the check step, acting on the plan on a full scale

or conducting further work by beginning with plan.

 - Taking appropriate steps in the light of results.

- Plan for the next cycle.

P A

For improving the quality of higher education, according to presenter, four types

of support should be given-

1- Academic support-

o Create an environment for learning and staff development. And try to stimulate the

D C
academic environment and quality of teaching and research in the institution.

o Make the teachers who are in service accountable for their works through a monitoring

cell.

o Internship programs are to be designed to provide necessary practical exposure related to

Quality
particular area. This will give the prospective professionals adequate knowledge of the
 total functioning of area, the improvements needed and also provide insights into the

problems and issues concerning maintenance of plant, management, organizational

climate of the institution etc.

o Make available proper infrastructure, adequate teachers and their training programmes.

o Fostering Innovation in Higher Education. One of the most important roles of institutions

of higher education is to serve as well springs of innovation and creativity. But if we

expect institutions to play this important role in society and the economy, then

mechanisms are needed to evaluate the extent to which they are achieving this purpose.

Indeed, at the recent Barcelona Conference on Higher Education, an important theme that

emerged is the need for accreditation systems that value and promote innovation in

higher education.

o Encourage self evaluation and accountability in higher education.

o To make all possible efforts so that students of higher learning get encouragement in

independent pursuit of knowledge. This can be achieved by making modern learning

facilities available and also by giving financial supports to deserving scholars.

2-Administrative support-

o Adopt new philosophies and technologies that can improve quality.

o Encourage teamwork and participatory management.

o Recognize the efforts of staff without creating a competitive environment.

o Emphasize ‘management for quality’ rather than ‘Management of quality’.

o Leadership and commitment of top management plays a significant role in quality

improvement. So, quality directed leadership should be promoted.

 3- Societal support-

o Promotes the 3 C's: Communication, Community and Content.

o Facilitate links between quality assurance agencies and acceptance of each other’s

decisions and judgements.

o Share experiences and good practices in the field of quality assurance in higher

education.
o Disseminate information on recent developments in the evaluation of higher education

through various media.

o Parents should come forward not only during times of crisis but also to constantly

monitor the performance of the both the student and the teacher. They should take up a

more pro-active role in their children's education.

o Structures and mechanisms to ensure efficient monitoring.

o Facilitate in being a Public – Private Partnership platform.

4- Economic support-

Proper financial assistance should be given to the institutions of higher learning for

improving their quality.

Others-

o Accredit all institutions of higher learning under the NAAC within a stipulated time.

Accreditation assures the educational community, the general public, and other agencies

or organizations that an institution or program (a) has clearly defined and educationally

objectives (b) maintains conditions under which their achievement can reasonably or

expected (c) is in fact accomplishing them substantially, and (d) can be expected to

continue to do so.

o Review and gender impact assessment of action points and policies.

o Facilitate research in to practice of quality management in higher education and its

effectiveness in improving the quality of higher education in the region.

 o Beside their conventional role, the universities have to play a positive role in building up

quality.

o Organize regular seminars, workshops, conferences on quality education and bring out

the relevant information programmes at grass-root for the knowledge of others.

Conclusion-

Quality concerns within an institution irrespective of it being a college or a larger unit such as a

university, needs to be undertaken. There is a need for quality assurance in higher education.

Quality assurance refers to the process of maintaining standards reliably and consistently by

applying criteria of success in a course, program or institution. Higher education is at the cross

roads. At one end there is high demand for access to higher education, and at the other the

quality is questioned. In order to survive in the competitive world of globalization, all higher

education institutions should pay special attention to quality in higher education. Universities

and institutions of higher education have to produce graduates for the global market requiring

content, method and structure meeting international norms. Indian higher education is widely

recognized and respected across the globe. The educational institutions have to take care of

providing quality education which should be in par with the international standards. There are

various recommendations for promoting a culture of quality in higher education. And finally it

can be said that continuous improvement should be the ‘mantra’ of promoting quality in higher

education. In the process, the student as the key stakeholder of the system was identified, and the

role of Internal Quality Assurance Cell in improving quality and developing a culture of quality

was highlighted.
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Address for Correspondence:: Ms.Swati Gupta,D/O Mr. Praverkant Gupta, Shri Ram & Sons,

Etmadpur Agra, (U P),India-283202

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