Challenges of Total Quality in Education through Quality Assurance Principles in One Institution of Higher Education in South Africa

Abstract

Debates about how quality education can be accessed by all students within the South African higher education environment continue to dominate in the media and academic circles as well as among policy makers and those who have a vested interest in education. Given the disparities in terms of socio-economic and political conditions inherited from the previous segregationist regime in the country, it is challenging to conceptualise how quality assurance mechanisms can be applied across all higher education institutions using the same standards, measurements and criteria. Indeed, in South Africa, social inequalities were deeply embedded and reflected in all spheres of social life, as a product of the systemic exclusion of blacks and women under colonialism and apartheid (segregation) and these inequalities continue to shape the educational landscape. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the quality of education can be improved through quality assurance mechanisms in one institution of higher education that serves the majority of students who come from underprivileged socio-economic backgrounds.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n1p137