Higher education institutions in Africa appear to be completely copying the quality assurance (QA) frameworks of developed countries instead of conceptualising their own frameworks for delivering quality higher education outcomes in Africa. Certain factors (limited funding, inadequate infrastructure, inadequate staffing, relatively low research outputs, and limited graduate employable skills) characterising higher education are peculiar to developing countries including Africa. Using a qualitative case-study approach through interviews and document reviews, and a "PPP" conceptual framework, this study examined the foci of quality assurance frameworks of three flagship universities in Ghana. The findings indicate that the least attention is given to facilities in the quality assurance frameworks even though limited facilities pose a major challenge to the quality of higher education outcomes of the universities. The findings indicate that most attention is paid to programme areas such as teaching and learning. The results of the study recommend regular and appropriate balancing of the foci of quality assurance frameworks in the universities to enable them to give optimum attention to all key operational areas for quality outcomes.
Globally, the increasing cost of university eduation, growing student enrolments and weak economic of nations have caused a reduction in public funding for university education. This decline in public funding seems to have increased tuition fees, caused deterioration of infrastructure, thereby affecting student access to university education. In the Global South particularly, Ghana and South Africa, there is the quest for universities to widen access. This is as a result of the perceived association of the activities of universities to socio-economic development. However, funds allocated by these governments to the sector is woefully inadequate. The study reveals that public universities in South Africa and Ghana rely on alternative sources such as fees of international students and non-traditional learners to enhance their fiscal strength but this seems inadequate owing to the financial strain that comes with the growth in domestic student numbers.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.