Quality assurance in South Africa

Abstract

Worldwide, higher education is undergoing major changes in its organisation. In this context, the concept of quality assurance control has emerged as a primary instrument for evaluating performance and accountability in higher education systems. South Africa is the latest candidate for a nationally imported system of quality assurance in the wake of several policy and legal initiatives to transform higher education after the demise of apartheid. Several contemporary developments, notably the South African Higher Education Bill and the Education White Paper 3 (Higher Education) are part of the government’s commitment to transform higher education. This paper will briefly discuss the origins and nature of quality assurance in South Africa. The article also critically reviews a number of conceptual frameworks about quality in higher education in order to develop a better and shared understanding of, and appropriate responses to quality assurance.

Citation

Kistan, C. (1999), "Quality assurance in South Africa", Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 125-134. https://doi.org/10.1108/09684889910281557