Challenges and prospects for quality assurance in science and technology education in African Universities

Abstract

The role of ensuring that universities in Africa deliver the quality education and training to meet the continent's needs is, in most cases, given to national bodies or agencies responsible for higher education. However, universities have the primary responsibility for their own academic standards as well as quality processes that underpin them. The effectiveness of quality assurance mechanisms is gradually being undermined by internal and external challenges. This paper gives the global and regional quality assurance context for university science and technology education, schematizes the challenges faced by African universities and national quality assurance bodies and current efforts, discusses prospects and recommends strategies.