Quality Orientation in the University Communities in Zimbabwe

Abstract

This paper presents a theoretical perspective on the importance of quality assurance in higher education and how those that are charged with the mandate to promote quality in universities can create quality consciousness across the university community. Quality is broadly defined for a general understanding of the concept and contextually defined to illuminate its relevance to higher education. The multi-model approach by Cheng and Tam (1997) and Gibbs (2010) is adopted in defining the quality of education. The paper attempts to answer the following questions: Whose responsibility is quality assurance in the university? Why is there a greater need for quality assurance in higher education? What are the benefits of implementing robust quality assurance (QA) systems in the university? How can quality consciousness be created in the university community? Finally, recommendations are proffered on some of the approaches universities can adopt to create a quality culture, which is envisaged to translate into quality academic provision.