Accra, March 15 GNA- Dr Kwame Dattey, Former Executive Secretary, National Accreditation Board (NAB), has called on Universities to focus on quality service to meet the needs of industry players than mass admission of students.
Dr Dattey stated that higher education enrolment in the country had increased exponentially, urging management of Universities to put in place systems to ensure continuous improvement in quality of service.
Dr Dattey made the call in Accra at a stakeholder’s workshop organised by NAB on the theme « Strengthening Quality Assurance for Institutional Effectiveness ».
He posited that quality assurance in higher education provided a reasonable guarantee that institutions, the courses they offered and their graduates meet certain required standards to gain public confidence.
Dr Dattey said transparency was one of the values of quality in higher education, adding that the phenomenon needed the cooperation of stakeholders in the sector to ensure efficiency.
« Quality must be the responsibility of educational institutions. They must conduct self-evaluation of their own operations to ensure their actions is in line with quality service », he added.
He admonished Universities to seek to achieve accountability in their operations and as well render account of stewardship and create platform for the development of the institution.
The former Executive Secretary said quality enhancement in Universities cannot be compromised, in that, it encouraged institutions to reflect on their practices with the view to enabling a process of learning and the range of outcomes.
He explained that external quality assurance involves the assessment by external agencies including NAB to maintain and improve defined levels of quality of higher educational institutions.
Dr Dattey urged authorities to appoint members of NAB who have sufficient knowledge in higher educational institutions to function in an effective and efficient manner.
Professor Kofi Awusabo-Asare, the Board Chairman of NAB advised Universities to prioritize issues of quality to impact on the students for brighter future aspirations.
The Professor said there was the need for a framework for institutional development and self-evaluation to strengthen the system and mitigate practices that militate the advancement of higher education in the country.
He urged students to verify with NAB before applying to Universities to avoid unforeseen situations.
Some of the participants called for an enabling infrastructure for disability students.
They complained of delay in getting a charter to award their own degree certificates, urging authorities of NAB to help in facilitating the process to ease the bureaucracy.
