GUIDE FOR THE PROMOTION OF
QUALITY CULTURE IN EAST-AFRICAN
UNIVERSITIES
Roberto Escarré,
Afriq’Units Project Director
Index

Acknowledgements

Objectives of the Guide

Rationale of the Guide

Content
Acknowledgements

The European Commission and the ACP-Secretariat for
the trust deposited in the AfriQ’Units project through the
framework of the EDULINK Programme.

The partners participating in this initiative:
 Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya
 Mzumbe University, Tanzania
 Makerere University, Kampala Uganda
 Inter University Council of East Africa, Kampala Uganda
 Association of African Universities, Accra, Ghana
 German Accreditation Council, Berlin, Germany
 University of Alicante, Spain (Contractor and Coordinator)
Objectives of the Guide

To collect all the lessons-learned from the project;

To provide a practical tool for East African Universities
which are looking for a extensive methodology on how to
implement a quality culture in Higher Education
Institutions.
Rationale of the Guide I


A major element capable of simultaneously generate
improvement of HEIs’ management, planning capacities and
overall institutional performance is the development and
embedding of a quality culture for institutional quality assurance
within HEIs.
Quality assurance can be defined as a “planned and
systematic review process of an institution or program to
determine that acceptable standards of education,
scholarship, teaching, administration and infrastructure
are being maintained and enhanced”, and it is widely
recognized as a tool that serves to improve an HEIs’
effectiveness and provide required accountability to external
stakeholders
Rationale of the Guide II


The project specifically aimed to strengthen the foundation
for the systematic implementation of a coherent quality
culture within East African HEIs, and to contribute
towards the general goal of promotion of quality in HE.
The action achieved the objective through:
 Capacity building at three East African HEIs (comprising
enhancement of administrative, managerial and technical
skills of staff involved in implementation of internal quality
assurance mechanisms via extensive training programmes),
 Strengthening of physical infrastructures in relation to the
structures responsible for the implementation of quality
assurance mechanisms and the establishment of effective
and necessary information system within participating HEIs.
Rationale of the Guide III

The creation of a quality culture was supported through the
practical implementation of pilot assessments of chosen
study programmes and institutional services, as well as the
formulation of a set of improvement recommendations.
Rationale of the Guide IV



The Guide is intended to Increase awareness for internal
quality culture.
The involvement of the IUCEA and of the Association of African
Universities (AAU) in the project further accelerates the process
of sharing of good practice in implementing quality culture and
networking in the East-African region and beyond, enhancing its
contribution to national and regional policies and implementation
plans for Quality Assurance in African HE.
The partners are willing to support other HEIs working
on this topic!!!
Part I. Implementing a Quality Culture for
HE in East Africa
A/ The AfriQ’Units project
B/ Recommendations for the Implementation of a Sustainable
Quality Assurance Culture in East African Universities
C/ Improvement Plan, Challenges & Lessons Learnt, Moi University
D/ Recommendation for the implementation of a sustainable
culture, Makerere University
E/ The AfriQ’Units project on Quality Assurance in East African
Universities: An Edulink Project, Mzumbe Universities.
Part II. Self-Assessment of University
Services
A/ Methodology
B/ Good Practice
•
•
•
MOI University_Improvement Action Report: Examinations
MZUMBE University_Improvement Action Report: Students
Welfare
MAKERERE University_Improvement Action Report: Human
Resources Directorate
Part II. Self-Assessment of University
Services – Methodology
The EFQM excellence Model is the best well known and used
European quality management model both by private and public
enterprises, 12 out of 15 leading European Business enterprises are
using it as a day to day to management model, it also used by the
European Commission and more and more universities are using it
worldwide to improve their key performance results.
 The Guide proposed a practical methodology on how to
implement the EFQM model in a university service of East-African
Universities .
 This methodology is the result of the participative workshop
which took place in Mzumbe University in Tanzania in May 2009.

Part II. Self-Assessment of University
Services – Methodology

Internal Self-Assemment
OBJECTIVE OF THE PROCESS:
TO ESTABLISH AN IMPROVEMENT PLAN FOR THE UNIVERSITY UNIT
COMMITMENT
University
Unit
Assessment
Committee
Self-Assessment
ImprovementActionPlan
IMPROVEMENT ACTIONS
Part II. Self-Assessment of University
Services – Methodology

Improvement Plan
Improvementplan
Diagnosis
Identified
Strengths
IdentifiedAreas
for Improvement
Establishementof Improvement
Actions
Consolidate
Improvement
Plan
Improve
Part II. Self-Assessment of University
Services – Methodology

Self-Assessment Tools
Part III. Case study



MOI UNIVERSITY
Report on the External Examination GPA
Gender Studies and Development (Master of Arts)
Glossary

Around 50 key terms about quality & accreditation
THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION