Quality management in higher education institutions (HEI)

Introduction The need for quality management in education goes back to the 1880s when it was realized thatstandards need to be put in place to ensure that educational institutions graduate competent degreeholders (who have been trained in accredited programs) This is now seen necessary to standardizehigher education to meet the expectation of society & to respond to cross-border employment (1, 2)Quality assurance models were adopted by HEIs, mainly relying on industrial models which werenot entirely suitable for HEI due to the complexity of the product/s & processes involved in highereducation (3) This paper focuses attention on the day-to-day requirements for a feasible and practical model ofquality management in institutions of higher learning. It is a fact that many universities & collegestoday have established such units, but the variation in their conceptual framework, structure andfunctionality vary from the very sophisticated, high power, expensive model, to the rudimentary &often inadequate units of quality management.It is important that financial, physical & human resources should be made available. If these arenot met, the implementation of quality assurance will be difficult or impossible. The proposedmodel is formulated in as simple terms as possible; pointing out the main components, processes & guidelines. For this model of quality management to succeed, it is important to ensure leadership commitmentat the highest level. The focus on delivery of education and services should be clear and madeknown to all levels of stakeholders.