In the name of Allah, the most Beneficent, the most Merciful

1. In the name of Allah,the most Beneficent,the most Merciful

2. A BRIEFONQUALITY ASSURANCE SYSTEM OF HEC By Muhammad Taimur Khan Director, Quality Enhancement Cell, University of Peshawar

3. Objectives of Today's Workshop • Awareness regarding demands of globalization with respect to higher Education 2. Quality Assurance System/ Mechanism in higher Education institutions 3. HEC Self Assessment Manual- Guidelines for quality enhancement

4. 1. Globalization with respect to Higher Education • Globalization i.e. the increasing inter-nation interaction affects standards, learning, import and export of education, recognition and mobility. • Higher Education in Pakistan can not be isolated from the rest of the world. • Education, especially, higher education provides the bedrock for reducing poverty and enhancing social development.

5. Continued… • We have been able to increase access to higher education. The number of higher education institutions has multiplied in the last couple of years. • It is, however, not just the quantity but the quality of higher education which is important for the growth of a country.

6. Continued… • You must be aware of the fact that not a single university of the 57 Muslim countries is among the top 500 best universities of the world. • Only recently four Pakistani universities including NUST, QAU, KU and PU of the Muslim World have found their place in the top 600 universities as compared to other developing countries. This is alarming.

7. Continued… • An education system of poor quality may be one of the most important reasons why poor countries like Pakistan do not grow. • Without quality higher education, Pakistan will find it increasingly difficult to benefit from the global knowledge based economy.

9. Globalization

10. Globalization i.e. the increasing inter-nation interaction affects standards, learning, import and export of education, recognition and mobility. • Higher Education in Pakistan can not be isolated from the rest of the world.

11. Contd… • You can see that none of the universities of the 57 Muslim countries are listed among the top 500 best universities of the world. • It is however heartening to know that as per current ranking six universities i.e. NUST, QAU, KU and PU of Pakistan,Cairo University of Egypt and University of Istanbul of Turkey of the Muslim World have found their place in the top 600 universities.

12. Paradigm Shift There is a paradigm shift from old to new emphasizing outcomes i.e. what have the students achieved. In other words, the competency of a graduate makes him/her useful to the society.

13. Paradigm Shift Old Paradigm • What we give to the students • Inputs • Faculty Teaching • Curriculum • Educational activities as an end • More quantitative (how much) New Paradigm • What the students can/are able to do • Outcomes • Student learning • Education • Educational activities as means to an end • More qualitative (how well) as well as quantitative

14. Continued… • We often consider graduates as the end product/output of education. It is not about just the ”Output” but about the “Outcome” of higher education institutions that matters in today’s market economy. • The number of graduating students is the output, while the QUALITY of graduates is the OUTCOME, in other words, the competency of a graduate makes him/her useful to the society.

15. Continued… • Globalization has both direct and indirect impact on higher education, its quality and quality assessment. Quality in higher education has assumed great significance in recent times in the context of “knowledge Society” or Knowledge driven Society. • The youth of today are now global citizens, so it becomes obligatory to educate it according to international standards.

16. 2. Quality Assurance Mechanism of HEC Definition of Quality: Quality can be defined as the means through which an institution can guarantee with confidence and certainty, that the standards of its educational provision are being maintained and enhanced.

17. Continued… • Quality assurance is used as common denomination for a variety of mechanisms intended to control, guarantee and promote quality in higher education institutions. • It is a developmental aspect of higher education, and, therefore, will never be achieved in total.

18. Continued… • Quality Assurance is one of the following three pillars of education upon which the whole structure of Higher Education in Pakistan will be based. - Access - Quality - Relevance

19. Continued… • Increasing access to higher education without enhancing its quality and relevance to the needs of the country can not be expected to achieve the goal of a knowledge based economy.

20. Continued… • It is a common belief/perception that majority of the Pakistani universities do not meet the international standards of higher education. • We have to accept Quality assurance as a challenge, which can not be met without enhancing the quality on sustainable basis.

21. Continued.. • Quality Assurance is an activity carried out at two levels i.e. External & Internal. • External Quality Assurance (also called as accreditation) is carried out by regulatory/professional bodies at the national level to ensure the minimum performance level of educational programmes and institutions, in this case the HEC.

22. Continued… • Internal Quality Assurance is an internal and integral part of the institution’s administration and management systems. • It implements a set of policies, programmes and procedures set-up by an institution.

23. Continued.. • In order to achieve these objectives, the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan has established a Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) in 2004 at HEC Islamabad. • The major function of Quality Assurance Agency is to integrate the concepts of quality in higher learning systems and to develop practical guidelines and policies for the uplift of education in Pakistan through a viable quality assurance mechanism.

24. Continued… • Under the umbrella of Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) a Quality Assurance Committee has been constituted which has developed guidelines for a viable system of quality assurance. • The Quality Assurance Committee (QAC) is composed of Vice Chancellors of about 30 public sector universities. The Chairman of the Committee is Prof. Dr. Abdul Raouf of Institute of Management & Technology, Lahore and ex-Rector, GIK.

25. Quality Assurance System at HEC

26. Continued… • The Academic Quality Assurance concepts and practices are frequently being developed and adopted in several education systems across the world. • A sample of universities which have adopted these practices include: MIT, University of Michigan, University of Illinois at Urbana, University of Wisconsin at Madison, Texas A & M University in USA, Al Ain University at UAE, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran and many others.

27. Continued… • The Higher Education Commission (HEC) in Pakistan is paying growing attention to the application and adoption of quality assurance mechanism in higher education system of Pakistan. • Higher Education, it is often argued, can not be isolated from what precedes it i.e. quality of primary and secondary education. Improvement in quality at all levels of education are essential.

28. Continued… • Education in today’s global context is an importable and exportable commodity like any other manufactured good. It, therefore, must be checked against certain quality standards.

29. Continued… The Quality Assurance programme of the HEC essentially has three major components: • Development of criteria and standards for various quality parameters in Higher Education • Development of processes and capacity building to ensure implementation of these criteria • Develop a system for arranging regular internal and external monitoring of the higher education institutions in respect of the status of implementation of the quality criteria and quality control processes.

30. Continued… The Quality Assurance Committee has developed a set of criteria for: • Award of MPhil & PhD degrees • Affiliation of Colleges/Institutions • Ranking (Assessment) of Universities • Guidelines for Self Assessment by Universities • Examination System (NTS etc.)

31. Continued… • The approach taken by HEC is that Quality Assurance is something which is the responsibility of the respective institutions. • The HEC would facilitate the process of Quality Assurance by providing quality assessment guidelines.

32. Continued… A number of steps have been taken by HEC for capacity building such as: • Establishment of QECs • Guidelines for good practices for Accreditation Councils • Self Assessment Manual for Universities • International linkages have been developed for membership of Asia Pacific Quality Network (APQN) and International Network for Quality Assurance Agency in Higher Education (INQAAHE)

33. Continued… Quality in Higher Education is a dynamic entity which is the outcome of interacting among many factors. Some of the factors include; leadership, quality of faculty, quality of students, infrastructure, facilities, research and learning environment, governance, strategic planning, assessment procedures and market forces.

34. Continued… A set of guidelines “Self Assessment Manual” along with the following requisite proforma have been circulated to assess various aspects of higher education: • Faculty Course Review • Student Course Evaluation • Annual Programme Monitoring • Student Programme Completion Survey • Research Student Progress Review

35. Continued… The institutions of higher education, may deploy certain quality models to realize ideals of academic excellence such as: • EFQM- European Foundation for Quality Management • HEFCE- Higher Education Funding Council of England • BNQA – Baldrige National Quality Award • TQM- Total Quality Management • ISO- International Organization of Standards

36. Continued… • Very often questions are asked in academic circles whether such quality models should be used in higher education to ensure quality or achieve academic excellence. • The major controversy revolves around the presumption that these quality models which are based on Total Quality Management (TQM) philosophy, were originally developed for manufacturing and business organizations and are hardly justified for higher education.

37. Continued… • Away from this controversy, the achievement of excellence in terms of quality of teaching, learning, research and scholarship remain the cherished desire of us all. • Accordingly, quality ideals or academic excellence needs an effective management methodology.

38. Continued… • It is argued that the quality models like EFQM, BNQA & ISO 9000 are capable of providing the management methodology needed to achieve quality ideals in higher education, especially at institutional level.

39. Continued… • Effective assessment of teaching and learning has become a major issue for higher education all over the world. • Effective assessment methodology helps the universities to upgrade their pedagogy and course curriculum according to the requirement of stakeholders and market competitiveness.

40. Continued… • Effectiveness in assessment is generated by the mutual agreement of students, faculty and management on applied assessment methods. • The HEC has introduced two types of assessment models i.e. Programme Self Assessment Model and Institutional Self Assessment Model

41. Establishment of QECs • The Quality Assurance Agency established 10 offices known as Quality Enhancement Cells in the public sector universities in 2004 to implement quality assurance mechanism in the universities. • Recently 20 more such cells have been established including UET, FWU,AU,KUST from NWFP increasing the number to 30.

42. 3. Self Assessment • Self Assessment by the Universities • External Academic Audit by HEC • Monitoring Teams by HEC

43. Continued… • Assessment is a systematic process of gathering, reviewing and using important quantitative and qualitative data and information from multiple and diverse sources about educational programs, for the purpose of improving student learning, and evaluating whether academic and learning standards are being met.

44. Continued… • Self assessment is an assessment conducted by the institution to assess whether programs meet their educational objectives and outcomes with the purpose to improve program’s quality and enhancing students learning.

45. Objectives of Self Assessment • Improve and maintain academic standards • Enhance students’ learning • Verify that the existing programs meet their objectives and institutional goals • Provide feedback for quality assurance of academic programs

46. The elements of a successful assessment • Purpose identification • Outcomes identification • Data collection • Analysis and evaluation • Decision-making regarding actions to be taken.

47. Selected Results of Self Assessment Exercises in Univ: of Peshawar Faculty Survey Department of Geology

48. Selected Results of Teachers Evaluation Survey

49. Selected Results of Self Assessment Exercises in Univ: of Peshawar Faculty Survey Department of Pharmacy

50. The institutions have initial apprehension about the philosophy of assessment and external review but it will end up in appreciation of the intrinsic benefits of quality assurance system because quality adds value to higher education.