Expansion of quality assurance mechanism in south Asian higher education system: an empirical analysis

Abstract

Higher education institutions in south Asia are faced with two fold pressure; need to expand and demand to enhance the quality. In this region mechanism of quality assurance is at very nascent stage and faced with problems of resources limitations: economic resources are insufficient and human resources are under-developed. But the expansion and implementation of QA mechanism is helping to improve the quality of higher education and better utilization of resources. Assistance of international organizations, which are working for quality assurance mechanism, is important to enhance human capacity QA mechanisms’ credibility. This study is designed to map the state of higher education and quality assurance, to investigate into the role of international organization (INQAAHE) in the expansion of QA and to probe the questions: What are south Asian countries doing for quality enhancement and assurance? How is it expanding? What are the national needs?

Keywords: Higher Education, Quality Assurance, INQAAHE, South Asia