This document discusses quality assurance in Nigerian higher education. It begins with an introduction by Olugbemiro Jegede, Secretary to the Government of Kogi State. The main topics covered include the main issues of concern in education, 21st century needs in Africa, the current status of education, the need for quality assurance, definitions and approaches to quality assurance, future challenges and prospects, and a conclusion. It emphasizes that quality higher education is crucial for development in Africa given the continent's education challenges and high demand for access and skills training.

1. Olugbemiro Jegede
Secretary to the Govt of Kogi State
Quality
Assurance in
Nigeria Higher
Education

2. Olugbemiro Jegede
Ahmadu Bello University
University of Southern Queensland
University of Abuja
Curtin University of Technology, Australia
Open University of Hong Kong
Collateral Learning
and the Eco-
Cultural Paradigm
in Science and
Mathematics
Education in Africa

3. 3
FocusIntroduction
Main Issues of Concern in Education
21st Century Africa and her Needs
Status of Education
Need for Quality Assurance
What, Why and How of Quality Assurance
The Future
Challenges and Prospects
Conclusion

4. 4
Pleased to be Here
 Thanks for the invitation to give This
University Lecture on Quality
 Significant as it demonstrates the
University’s commitment to quality
 Although have been associated with
Salem University, this is my first time
on Campus.
 I can confirm all the good things and
exceptional strides already made as a
university

5. 5
Apology
 Conversation is to create an
awareness, sensitise and help navigate
the issue of Quality Assurance in
Higher Education.
 Apologies that I may neither capture all
that QA represents in our education
nor have all the answers to the
emerging issues in QA in Higher
Education in Nigeria

6. a 21st Century
Imperative

7. Major Issues
Global movement to educate every
citizen
Focus on removing disparities in
educational access
Vigorous search for alternative
delivery modes
Education directed to the full
development of the human
personality

8. 8
Education & Development
 All countries have demonstrated
an irrevocable and unwavering
commitment to education as tool
for national and personal
development.
 They also regard the pursuit of
education as an inalienable right
of every citizen.

9. 9
Development Needs
sustainable development
highly educated, mobile and
adaptable workforce
multi-skilled and multi-tasked
a knowledge and a learning society
use of ecological and geographical
conditions to a nation’s advantage

10. 10
Requirements
Individual and institutional levels:
skills and ability to be creative with
knowledge
technical know-how and transfer of
technology
policy analysis
development management
assessment of alternative courses of
action

11. technology will increasingly dominate
domestic, economic and social life
financial and economic world will
change into a plastic world
increase in demand for constant
communication and use of
telecommunication
society will become less personal,
concentrate more on nuclear family
unrivalled demand for education
C21st NigeriaC21st Africa

12. Regional Status Report
•One adult in three cannot read
or write.
•world’s deepest inequalities
based on factors such as gender,
language
Primary Sector
•32 million out of school
•1.2 million teachers needed
Secondary Sector
•34 per cent in school
•750,000 teachers needed
by 2015
•About 5% on the average in H.E.
•No African country has achieved the
UNESCO-defined level of 25% participation
in Higher Education.
•On average, African universities have a
shortfall of 60% of researchers and teachers
Tertiary
Sector
•8.5million in H.E
•456,000 teachers
needed by 2015
•Three out of 10 in secondary school.
•VTE neglected

13. Challenges to HE in Africa
Expanding access
Improving quality
Ensuring equity
Enormous and urgent need to
continuously train and refresh
knowledge and skills
Dwindling funding support
Obsolete curricula
Dilapidated infrastructure

14. Impact of Challenges
impact is particularly pronounced
in Africa with ONE Billion people:
with the world’s highest illiteracy rates,
lowest participation rates
huge capacity development needs
10million seeking employment annually
60% of the unemployed are youth, and
a massive demand for tertiary education.

15. Role of Higher Education
Key to diversify growing economies
Knowledge and skills are critical to growth and
development in the 21st C
Building human resource base
Producing employable graduates and
professionals
Seeking greater participation from private
sector
Usage as driver of the EFA and MDG goals
Combat diseases, reduce energy costs and
address climate change

16. Higher Education in Africa
 The establishment of more institutions of HE is
an answer to the yearning needs of Africans to
take education to their doorsteps.
Number of conventional universities in the
continent has tripled within the past few years
Still can’t cope with the demand for access while
unable to deliver flexible, affordable space and
time-independent education.
 Growing foment in higher education in Africa to
meet the challenges of access and the attendant
issues of quality, equity, social justice and cost.

17. National Policy on
Education
“education is the most
important instrument of
change in any society”. And
that “any fundamental
change in the intellectual and
social outlook of any society
has to be preceded by an
educational revolution”

18. Government adopted,
“policies which were to be directed towards
ensuring that there are equal and adequate
educational opportunities at all levels”.
“make life-long education the basis for the
nation’s education policy”
“after primary education, an individual will
be able to choose the preferred mode of
learning”
“the education system structured to develop
the practice of self-learning”.
National Policy on Education

19. The Bottom Line
effective national development
depends on education
the bedrock of education is the
acquisition of quality knowledge
leads to a Knowledge Society and
a Learning Society
common realisation and a shared
vision

20. understanding principles
Wise Society
Data Understanding
Context
independence
information
knowledge
understanding relations
understanding patterns
wisdom
[Adapted from Bellinger 1999]

21. 0 Spatial
Temporal
Flexibility in time, space, content
Non formal
Formal
Informal
Adult
Self-directed learning
Sharing with others
Varied learning styles
Learning Society
Diversity of Learning Spaces

22. Before 1960
Population of
about 60 million
Colonial
government
Protectorates
Regions
Provinces
Districts

23. •7-5-2-3 system
One University
College – Ibadan
Less than 700
students in higher
education
Few went abroad
Correspondence
< 1,000 secondary
schools
< 5,000 primary
schools
EducationAge in
years
No. of
years
Universities
3
18-22
Craft Schools
Teachers Training Colleges
Grammar
Middle School
Comprehensive
15-18
5
Technical colleges Secondary schools
12-15 Primary Schools
6-11/12
7
Nigeria's 7-5-2-3 System of Education
HIGHER EDUCATION
HSC/A-Levels
22-30

24. After 1960
British colony till
1960
Member of the E-9
Group
Member of The
Commonwealth
Landmass of
923,768 sq. km.
Most populous
African nation

25. Demography
Population is
about 160
million
Republic with
36 states, 774
Local Govts
6 geopolitical
zones

26. Socio-economic
Petroleum takes 95%
of foreign exchange
earning
GDP = $188.5b
Per capita = $1,188
Literacy = 65.8%
60% in rural areas
Life Expectancy =52

27. •6-3-3-4 system
•National Policy on
Education
•128 universities: 50P, 40
FGN, 38 State
•88 Colleges of Education
•120 Polytechnics
•19,216 secondary
schools
•60,188 primary schools
EducationAge in
years
No. of
years
Colleges of
Education
Universities
Polytechnics
4
18-22
15-18 3
Technical colleges Senior secondary
schools
Junior secondary schools
12-15
Primary schools
Day care centres and pre-primary schools
6-11/12
0-6
3
6
Nigeria's 6-3-3-4 System of Education
HIGHER EDUCATION
BASIC
EDUCAT
-ION

29. For the Love of Oil
Ogochukwu Ikeje asked (after a visit to Mr President by
Rivers State Kalabari chiefs quarrel with their Bayelsa counterparts)
Who will teach us to love something else?
“As the chiefs and state chief executives bicker over
Soku oil fields which pump out 300,000bpd, the rest of
us should ask ourselves what oil has done for us and
the country. It has not helped our jobs profile and our
economy remains weak, susceptible to the
fluctuations of oil prices. Oil has not taken our people
off poverty. Our infrastructure remains unflattering.
Beyond our potentials and pockets of integrity, we
have pretty little to offer the world, in spite of our oil…
we need to cultivate healthier and more fruitful tastes”
The Nation on Sunday, November 4, 2012, page 14.429

30. Call for
Quality

31. Restoring the role of HE in
Africa
Higher Education declined between 1980s
and 2005
Illegal regimes, (military) Bad
governance, civil wars, World Bank
report of 1988 and the Structural
Adjustment Programme
Africa and the world became concerned
about the quality of education on the
continent
Second Decade of Education for Africa -
Plan of Action (2006-2015).

32. Importance placed on higher
education
 quality higher education seen as the most important tool
in developing the necessary knowledge, skills and
attitude towards socio-economic development.
 hence the launch of the Second Decade of Education for
Africa EX/CL/224 (VIII) by the Summit of Heads of State
and Government of the African Union.
 tertiary level education as one of the seven priorities to
be focused on for the ten-year period spanning 2006-
2015.
 The Addis-Ababa Declaration 2007,
Assembly/AU/Decl.5(VIII) by the Conference of Heads of
State and Government called for ‘’the revitalization of
African Universities’’ in the Consolidated Plan of Action
for Science and Technology in Africa.

33. Access for Unmet Demand
Demand for higher education expanded
significantly on the continent.
Many institutions responded by admitting
greater numbers of students each year.
800 Universities and 1500 HEIs in Africa
The students’ population tripled from 2.7
million in 1991 to 9.3 million in 2006.
A projection of the recent trends suggests
that the entire continent will have between
about 20 million students by 2015 (World

34. UNESCO 2008
World Conference on
Higher Education held in 2008
four key areas of intervention to
improve access and quality of Higher
Education in Africa.
relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of
higher education
research and innovation
creation of African higher education area
quality assurance

35. Concerns About Quality
African government functionaries and policy
makers have expressed concern about:
the need to improve quality of tertiary
institutions.
 the need to reassure the public about the
quality of private providers, and
the importance of ensuring that tertiary
education offered in both public and private
tertiary institutions meets acceptable local
and international standards.

36. Continental Endorsement
Faced with
- Education For All,
- the Millennium Development Goals and
- actualising AU vision
Education Ministers began to pay serious
attention to Quality Assurance
MINEDAF VIII in Dar es Salam, 2002
 All Africa Ministers’ conference in Cape
Town, 2004
 fingered two major challenges of:
- Managing access, quality and cost
-Ensuring quality in education.

37. AAU and QA
The Conference of Rectors, Vice-Chancellors
and Presidents of African Universities
(COREVIP) held its 51st session/ 9th General
Conference of the AAU held at the University of
Zambia, January 13-17, 1997 with the theme
“Promoting Quality Enhancement and Quality
Assessment: The Role of Regional
Cooperation”.
relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of higher
education
research and innovation
creation of African higher education area
quality assurance

38. Arusha Convention1
The Arusha Convention, developed under the
auspices of UNESCO in 1980
Sets the framework for the recognition of
degrees and certificates among African
universities
The Convention thus seeks to foster
cooperation in information exchange,
harmonisation of procedures and policies,
and attainment of comparability of
qualifications to facilitate mobility across
African countries for employment and further
study.

39. Arusha Convention2
 Africa’s Regional Convention on the Recognition of
Studies, Certification, Diplomas, Degrees and other
Academic Qualification in Higher Education in Africa
 Introduced on 5th December 1981 in Arusha Tanzania.
 One of the AIMS of the Arusha Convention as stated in
Article 2: Section 1.2
 Defining and putting in place effective quality
assurance and accreditation mechanisms at the
national, regional and continental levels.
 Was initially ratified by less than 20 African countries
and abandoned.
 Now revised and signed by almost all the countries

40. 2nd Decade of Education
African Union, 2006: The Second Decade of
Education for Africa (2006-2015)
the African Union (AU) Plan to ‘revitalise higher
education’ has seven priority areas. A major one
is the
 the harmonisation of higher education and the
establishment of quality rating mechanisms
across the continent as priority activities.
places prime priority on the promotion, development
and assurance of quality in African Higher Education
in all its dimensions.
AAU the implementing agency for the AU

41. Goals of Higher Education
 Learning outcomes:
 knowledge, skills, abilities
 Measured through:
 assignments and exams
 demonstration of ability
 portfolios/samples of work
 ability to apply knowledge
 employment etc

42. COST
The
NIGAVEKAR
pentagon
Stakeholders
The Iron Pentagon of QA

43. Assuring Quality
A continuous, proactive and
integrative process for maintaining
and improving quality.
 3 approaches of QA
External approaches
Internal approaches
Outcome Assessment

44. What is a culture of quality?
 institutional culture, systematic not ad-hoc
 learner-centric, development-oriented
 internal rather than external
 voluntary rather than imposed
 quality integrated into all activities
 shared by all members of an institution
 encouraged by progressive legislation,
adequate funding and monitoring

45. What is Quality?
5 approaches to viewing quality
in terms of the exceptional (high standards)
in terms of consistency (zero defects and
getting it right the first time)
as fitness for purpose (meeting stated
purposes)
as value for money
as transformative (transformation of the
participant) Green and Harvey (1993)

46.  QA is the process of verifying or determining
whether products or services meet or exceed
customer expectations in a systematic,
reliable fashion.
 QA is a process-driven approach with specific
steps to help define and attain goals.
 This process considers design, development,
implementation, and service
 Two key principles characterise QA: "fit for
purpose" (the product should be suitable for
the intended purpose) and "right first time"
What is Quality Assurance?What is Quality Assurance

47. Advantages of QA
 greater awareness of quality all round
 more attention to planning and
management
 better learner support services
 excellent instructional delivery
 efficient course material development
 Improvement in degree completion rates
 retention rates increase

48. Modern Reasons for QA
quality assurance goes beyond controlling for
quality. It aims for improvement.
Makes current practices more efficient and
effective
lead to further knowledge and bring us closer to
a perfect operation and output.
that users and stakeholders have confidence in a
product.
quality assurance does not stop with the
products we use. It extends to services. President of Canadian
Association of Chiefs of Police Oct 2007

49.  to provide confidence to the client that
accurate and reproducible results are
achievable by using methods, techniques,
and procedures to collect, analyse, and
report data.
 to accomplish this objective, a University
must implement quality assurance
procedures that address
 qualification and training of personnel,
 efficient handling of clients,
 situation analysis, along with all necessary
support activities to minimise risk
Objectives of QAObjectives of QA

50. The major characteristics of QA
which allow for fitness of purpose
and getting it right first time are:
Reliability
Maintainability
Safety/risk management
Strength and effectiveness of
services
Characteristics of QACharacteristics of Quality
Assurance

51.  The four quality assurance steps :
 Plan: Establish objectives and processes
required to deliver the desired results.
 Do: Implement the process developed.
 Check: Monitor and evaluate the implemented
process by testing the results against the
predetermined objectives
 Act: Apply actions necessary for improvement if
the results require changes.
 It is called the PDCA Model
4 Steps of Quality Assurance4 Steps of Quality Assurance

52.  Began with craftsmen when the principle of quality was
simple: "let the buyer beware" (caveat emptor).
 Wartime mass production during World War II, led to
introduction of full time inspectors to identify, quarantine
and correct product quality failures.
 The systematic approach to quality started in industrial
manufacture during the 1930s in the USA, paying
attention cost of scrap and rework.
 Post World War II led to re-building of Japan and the
development of modern quality concepts encouraged
collaboration between Japanese business and technical
groups, in the redevelopment of the Japanese economy.
History of Quality Assurance
History of Quality Assurance

53.  Quality control emphasises testing to uncover
defects, and reporting to management for
decision making
 Quality assurance attempts to improve and
stabilise service, and associated processes, to
avoid issues that led to the defects in the first
place.
 QA does not necessarily eliminate the need
for QC
 QC activities are treated as an integral part of
the overall QA processes
Quality Assurance Vs. Quality
Control
Quality Assurance Vs. Quality Control

54. Awareness of Quality
widespread awareness of quality
issues throughout the University
increases the probability that service
quality will be taken into account at
every stage of the teaching/learning
process.
At every level, every training and every
briefing opportunity, emphasis must
be put on quality of service provided
the client and the public

55. QA, Mission Vs. Values
QA must reflect and mirror the
University’s mission and vision
QA should build into its focus the
Values to be entrenched in an
institution
QA should be a thread all through the
institution’s strategic plan
QA must have integrity, be service
oriented and permeate everywhere

56. The aims of the Quality Assurance Checks are
to enable Management to:
assess if staff are engaging with the public
providing a citizen-focused service,
identify and react to customer requirements,
recover service where required,
provide a reassurance function for members of
the public and
provide staff with direct customer feedback and
guidance to enhance future customer
interactions.
Quality Assurance Checks

57. The development of a quality assurance
system
Learner support system
Provision of networking and computing
services for instruction and management
Warehousing of materials
Tutorials, handling of assignments and
examinations
Counselling and call centre services
Baseline Provisions for QA

58. Risk Management Strategies
Risk management is a process that is used to identify
potential risks and liabilities that could result in some
kind of loss for Universities.
 5 basic steps in the risk management process:
 Identify risks, frequency of exposure to risks, and the
severity of losses resulting from exposure to risks
 Explore methods to handle exposure to identified risks
 Choose appropriate treatment or response to manage
exposure to risks
 Implement risk treatment
 Continuously evaluate risk treatment applied to
organisational risks

59. Service delivery
Tangible delivery
Implementation strategy
Expectations from clients
Output control measures
Stakeholder participation
Additional commitments
Benchmark for QABenchmarks for Quality
Assurance

60. Service Charter Format
Type of
Service
Customer Delivery
Target
Redress
Available
Official to
handle
complaints
Enquiries
Telephone
E-mail
Students/public
Students/public
Within 1 day
7 working days
Petition to Chief
Public Affairs
Officer
Call Centre
Supervisor
Admission
processes
Intending
students/public
Within 8 weeks of
conclusion of sale
of form
Petition to
Academic
Registrar
Academic
Registrar
Delivery of
instructional
materials
Students
Study centres
Within 1 week of
conclusion of
registration
Petition to
Academic/
Registrar
SCM
Deans/Directors of
relevant academic
units
Counselling Students/staff Within 2 days of
complaint/request
Petition to
DLSS, VC
Director Learner
Support Services

61. 61
Quality Assurance
QA
International National Institutional
Sources of Assessment

62. 62
Quality Assurance
International
Organisations
UNESCO
COL
AAU
EAU
Associations
ICDE
ACDE
AAOU
Others
Private Agencies
Groups of Consultants
International

63. 63
Quality Assurance
National
NQAgency
/NRegulatoryAgency
Professional
Organisations
Nursing Council Architecture Accounting
Other Bodies
National

64. 64
Quality Assurance
Institutional
Academic
Programme
Development
Benchmark
Processes &
procedures
Teaching &
Learning
Examinations
Paper, online and
continuous
assessment
Peer assessment
of Teaching
Course materials
Development
Various Media
and IT facilities
OPP, DPP specs
Training &
Professional Dev
Research Student Affairs
•Blueprint
•Strategic Plan
•ICT Plan
•Service Charter
Institutional

65. Conclusion

66. African Land Mass and the World

67. A world map showing the percent of national
populations living on less than $1.25 (PPP) per day.
67

68. Emerging Global HE Landscape
Knowledge economy is the in-thing
Knowledge capability and capacity,
knowledge resources, not natural
resources greatest determinant of a
country’s entry into and effective
participation in global competitiveness
With lessons from emerging economies
(Brazil, India and China), higher
education must focus on local relevance,
sustainable total development and social
justice

69. Needed in HEIs
 make continuous learning mandatory
 institute quality assurance and risk
management in all HEI
 improve training and scholarship to
support the function
 provide appropriate infrastructure and
funding to support QA
 provide technological support to
streamline these processes

70. QA Challenges in Africa
absence or lack of interest in establishing
national quality assurance systems
Strengthening/ transforming existing sub-
regional quality assurance bodies as
models for effective practices
developing capacity and raising expertise
on and for the continent;
Coordinate and network quality assurance
systems to harmonise and streamline
quality assurance practices in Africa. 70

71. 71
Effective Change
Takes Time!
We must change with the time.
QA should bridge the gap.
“If I have ever made any valuable
discoveries, it has been owing more to
patient attention than to any other talent”.
Isaac Newton, English Physicist and Astronomer (1643-1727).
Adopt QA and wait patiently for lasting
results.

72. The Knowledge-based Economy
There are increasing signs that our
current paradigms for higher education,
the nature of our academic programs, the
organization of our colleges and
universities, and the way that we finance,
conduct and distribute the services of
higher education may not be able to adapt
to the demands of our time. J J Duderstadt (2001)