Quality Assurance & Accreditation of Teacher Education in Pakistan: Scope for Internationalization

Abstract

This semi-structured qualitative study aimed to explore the perceptions of the faculty of education departments in various universities about the quality assurance and accreditation process and their willingness to initiate this process in their respective departments. A mixed item questionnaire comprising close and open ended questions was used to collect data from 152 faculty members teaching in the education departments of 16 universities of Pakistan. The faculty members serving at various positions were purposively selected for the study. Triangulation was achieved through content analysis of the survey, document analysis of NACTE manuals and HEC directives. Finally, thematic analysis was completed to arrive at conclusions. The study concluded that the faculty of education departments lacks awareness about the quality assurance and accreditation process. Moreover, findings also suggest that universities are not prepared in many aspects for the achievement of national accreditation. However, in spite of their unwillingness to initiate efforts for internationalization, the faculty demonstrated a keen interest in learning about the accreditation process itself. It is recommended that National Accreditation Council for Teacher Education must set new targets to meet the goals of the accreditation of teacher education in Pakistan.

Leadership Effectiveness in Implementing Quality Assurance Programs at Private Universities of Lahore

“…To establish sanity and peace, the higher education regulating authorities (Higher Education Commission (HEC) in the case of Pakistan leaves it at the discretion of internal stakeholders, whatever they may decide as 'competence' or 'productivity in their institutions (Ulewicz, 2017). On the one hand, it brings autonomy and a challenge for leadership effectiveness on the other (Arif et al, 2019). Whatever the perspective, the stakeholders would grant acceptance to quality assurance to takeover; at least the researchers' focus has shifted from the applicability of Quality control tools in higher education to the successful implementation of quality assurance (QA) (Matei & Iwinska, 2016;de Vincenzi, Garau, & Guaglianone, 2018).…”

“…Stensaker (2008) argued that introducing QA in HEIs got "enthusiasm" substituted by "realism" in the present era. Beerkens (2018) added that acceptance of QA in higher education has opened to new avenues for evaluation, such as accreditation has become a prime strategic objective (Arif et al, 2019). QA is an effort to scrutinize why does a process or product fails to conform to desired standards.…”

Building World-Class University in Pakistan: Opportunities and Constraints

“…As these universities are at the apex of the higher education hierarchy, therefore serve the needs of society through: the creation and dissemination of knowledge along with producing an extremely skilled workforce for technical and intellectual leadership (Wang, Cheng, & Liu, 2012;Altbach, 2015;Bejinaru & Prelipcean, 2017). Hence the development of WCU is highly prioritized by the policy makers in the policy agenda (Altbach & Balán, 2007;Huisman, 2008;Song, 2018), which resulted in a range of reforms and development strategies at both institutional and national (external and internal) levels in Pakistan (Arif, Ilyas, & Hameed, 2017;Arif & Liaqut, 2019). However, the determination to become a world-class university is rooted not just in financial contemplation but also in the symbolic position of these universities (Niland, 2007;Wang et al, 2012;Bejinaru & Prelipcean, 2017;Tan, 2018).…”