| Abstract: | Quality in higher education is a multi-dimensional concept, which should embrace all its functions and
activities: teaching and academic programs, research and scholarships, staffing, students, buildings, facilities,
equipment, services to the community and the academic environment. In view of this both public and private
Higher Education Institutions are under scrutiny. However, critics commonly allege that private institutions are
identified with low academic quality. Quality is not simply defined in terms of inputs and resources; quality is
also described in terms of processes and outcomes. The purpose of the study is, therefore, revolved around the
processes dimension of quality in Ethiopian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The study focused on the
ways in which HEIs deliver there academic programs with special reference to Teaching, learning and
Assessment. In this qualitative inquiry data was drawn from, HERQA’s institutional quality audit reports, self
evaluation documents, the investigator’s experience as quality auditor and the related literature. The teaching,
learning and assessment practices of 14 HEIs have been analyzed .Thus, the study revealed among others the
following.
The teaching-learning process is still highly dominated by the traditional forms of teaching especially the
lecture; there are no standard criteria set by the institutions to keep the balance between theory and practice; it
seems universal that the institution have no explicit written policy on teaching and learning; very few staff
maintain regular consultation hours for students, it is virtually non-existence; majority of the senior courses are
taught by fresh undergraduate instructors; students spoke of staff not turning up to teach; and in most cases
tutorial are not part of the teaching and learning regime. The mid-semester and end-of-semester closed
examinations predominate as tools of assessment in almost all institutions; grade are mostly determined by
using the norm-references system; there is no wide spread practices of anonymous marking, of moderation, of
double marking or of the systematic development of external examiners; the institutions appear to have no
specific policy document on assessment ;and there is no transparent system that ensures students are assessed
appropriately and graded fairly.
The study also revealed some exemplary practices by the institutions which appear to be relevant to share in
order to enhance quality in teaching, learning and assessment. Furthermore, the study also indicated that
similar trends are observable in all the HEIs in regard to teaching, learning and assessment practices
Nevertheless, the private institutions are generally smaller in size, limited in programs, market-oriented and fee
and tuition-dependent. The overall conclusion is that the HEIs should extent more efforts in a number of areas to
ensure the quality of their programs that fit to the standards as per their mission. Finally some
recommendations were forwarded for further enhancement of quality in the processes dimension. |
