Over the past two decades, there has been a rapid increase in the gross enrolment ratios (GERs) in higher education globally – and notably over the last decade in Southeast Asia – as higher education systems continue to expand and massify. These developments have been predicated on the policy perception that higher GERs at the tertiary level are likely to bring good returns to both the individual and the country. Higher education is valued by government and employers for the economic upshift and civic engagement it brings. Critical thinking, problem solving, working in diverse teams, ethical reasoning, communication —these qualities nurture both good individuals as well as good citizens.
While governments have been allocating more public money for the development of their nations’ human capital, in the case of higher education, there has also been a significant growth in the private sector.
Quality assurance in higher education attempts to ensure that the quality of the teaching and learning outcomes are not compromised by this rapid expansion in both the public and private sectors. Quality in higher education is a seen as a “multidimensional, multilevel, and dynamic concept that relates to the contextual settings of an educational model, to the institutional mission and objectives, as well as to specific standards within a given system, institution, programme, or discipline,” as author Adina-Petruţa Pavel put it.1 As the race for the global university rankings began in earnest in the last decade, universities globally – and particularly those in Asia – are strategising and discussing the ways and mechanisms in which to develop highly ranked universities in their respective countries. While the massification of higher education institutions (HEIs) is happening at an exponential rate in many developing nations, disparities in outcomes and achievements are also widening within systems.
This is essentially a challenge that many countries have begun to realise: How does one maintain quality while massifying higher education systems? Best practices worldwide demonstrate that the establishment of effective quality assurance (QA) systems safeguards the maintenance of quality throughout the expansion process. The QA systems guarantee a certain threshold level of quality between and among institutions and can reinforce rigorous accountability measures in terms of achieving the desired and deliverable learning outcomes in higher education.
WHY QUALITY ASSURANCE?
Fundamentally, HEIs pursue quality for a myriad of reasons. There is a need among them to remain competitive to attract the best students and staff. Edward Sallis has defined four quality imperatives that drive institutions in the pursuit for quality – moral, professional, competitive and accountability. Professionalism is about putting the students’ needs first by emphasising the best teaching and learning practices. Accountability can be achieved by objectively evaluating and measuring educational outcomes and is based on formative and summative instruments. The goal of measuring quality is vital, since it is through measurement that one can assess the effectiveness of processes and practices, which in turn helps to determine an institution’s responsible use of funding and other resources.
Quality assurance (QA) raises the likelihood that a given learning environment (in this case, a HEI like college or university) in which the curricula of courses and programmes, teaching pedagogies, learning outcomes, facilities and support systems are fit for the intended purposes: delivery of prescribed learning goals, meeting students’ needs and satisfying all stakeholders’ needs and wants. By virtue of QA, a systematic academic quality improvement cycle is established which leads to higher reputation for the institutions, with better students, better faculty, better partnerships, better funding, and so on.
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF QUALITY ASSURANCE
QA in educational organisations can be internal or external. The internal QA system encompasses all evaluations carried out by internal QA departments within the higher education organisations themselves, including the programme evaluation, staff evaluation and feedback from stakeholders. The main objective for internal QA is to improve the quality of the organisation’s core activities, namely, teaching, learning, administration and research. External QA involves external organisations invited to audit an institution. External organisations for education could involve ministries that oversee higher education, autonomous and professional bodies accredited to perform QA audits, or industries. The external QA includes an expert panel, peer review, departmental reviews, programme evaluations and student evaluations. An ideal combination of both internal and external QA typically could help a higher education institution realise its goal of higher quality. It is an accepted norm that rigorous internal self-review is crucial before any external review audit is initiated.
While an increase in GER in HEIs is on the rise, a more comprehensive plan of re-imagining ways in which institutions are governed and evaluated is required. Quality assurance in higher education has been and should continue to remain as one of the key issues in the agenda of higher education reforms. Adequate measures of QA are central to accreditation and continuous improvement; a strategic and well-planned academic growth will lead to a virtuous cycle of higher reputation and market position for the HEIs. As massification takes place in the HEI space, there is a need for broader questions about the purposes of higher education, not just in relation to economic development, but also for larger societal value and accountability.
CHALLENGES
It is important to note that there a few factors that could challenge the validity of QA within HEIs. The danger of evaluation being reduced to a routine exercise and a simplistic measurement does not help in improving quality. HEIs also need to continuously manage and update the demands of the variety of courses offered with the criteria and standards set for quality assurance. QA processes can also lead to a growth of unwarranted bureaucratisation within HEIs. The processes themselves need to be constantly re-evaluated and updated in the context of changing role of HEIs.
If not, we may be moving away from the core mission of institutions, as Ángela Corengia, Juan Carlos Del Bello, María Pita Carranza and Cecilia Adrogué put it in their paper on the topic of quality assurance in higher education: “What should be a ‘virtuous circle’ could then become a vicious one.”2
The views expressed in the preceding articles were originally delivered by Professor Henri-Claude de Bettignies and Dr N. Varaprasad during their speeches at the International Conference 2018 on “Leadership and Management in Higher Education in a Globalized World: Innovations and Best Practices”, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, July 5-6, 2018, an event organised by SEAMEO RETRAC and supported by The HEAD Foundation.
N. VARAPRASAD
N. Varaprasad is Partner and Principal Consultant of Singapore Education Consulting Group, and the former Chief Executive of the National Library Board, Singapore.
UMA NATARAJAN
Uma Natarajan is an education consultant.

FEBRUARY 2019 | ISSUE 5
Developing Responsible Leaders and Entrepreneurs in Asia
Pavel, A.-P. (2012). ‘The Importance of Quality in Higher Education in an Increasingly Knowledge-Driven Society.’ International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 2, Special Issue 1 (2012): p. 124.
Corengia, Á., Del Bello, J. C., Carranza, M. P., and Adrogué, C. (2014). ‘Quality Assurance Systems of Higher Education - The Case of European Institutions: Origin, Evolution and Trends.’ Revista Gestão Universitária na América Latina, vol. 7 no. 3: p. 74.