Standards and quality in higher education

Abstract

The main hypothesis underlying this study has been formulated on the basis of an identified need in the Republic of South Africa (RSA) for a means of ensuring and preserving acceptable standards (by international norms) and quality in higher education. It has been assumed that this need may partially be met by the adaptation of selected overseas systems of quality control and systems of evaluation and accreditation of standards. The emphasis throughout is on intelligent, selective adaptation of successful attempts at controlling and managing standards and quality in higher education. One of the primary reasons for the establishment of a model for the preservation and enhancement of standards in higher education in the RSA, becomes clear when one identifies the emergence of a growing number of aspirant students. Many of those students attended schools where neither the tuition nor the facilities provided a suitable foundation for further studies at an advanced level. A further need for such a model is related to great pressures to lower standards which are being exerted by political and social groups and the prevailing views amongst many educators that a decrease in standards is inevitable. The hypotheses that will be tested include the assumption that a lowering of standards will seriously affect industry, commerce, and the whole social fabric and ultimately the credibility of South Africa's higher educational institutions and the acceptability of their graduates. This study is therefore aimed primarily at focusing attention on the need for an awareness amongst the higher educational community, and other communities, of the implications of vastly increased enrolments of under-prepared students.