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European Journal of <strong>Educational</strong> Studies 2(2), 2010movement of self institutional development; include structured quality institutionally and academically; include highlycompetitive abilities lead to accreditation; attain the effectiveness and continuity of quality assurance projects; fulfil therequirements of applying quality systems in all courses and reports; adopt a system of academic standards and support itsapplication; prepare the faculty for obtaining accreditation; raising the efficiency of laboratories and research centres. It isindicated that the aims of the academic programmes asserted the need for the continuous enhancement and institutionalability. However, there should be a focus on: human development; identifying priorities; asserting the need for enhancingassessment systems; community development; engaging with quality and subjects’ experts; strategic development; andcooperation with similar programmes in similar institutions both locally and globally.QAUs are meant by performing all procedures and requirements related to preparing the programme for accreditation fromthe NAQAAE. Through self study, and academic criteria and field visits the unit assists programme in obtainingaccreditation. “The main focus is on teaching and learning…..because the concentration of accreditation is on graduates, thefocus is on teaching and learning”, expert S said. When the programme is ready for accreditation, faculty addresses theuniversity and the university consult the QAC which states and examines the programme’s application. The university thenaddresses the ministry of higher education and the ministry addresses the NAQAAE which began to operate its ownprocedures and requirements. QAU is the main element in preparing the programme within the faculty for obtainingaccreditation. The faculty may sometimes ask for guidance from other institutions particularly in areas of lack. “You need totrain faculty on how they can run programme or course specifications to have a training programme for externalevaluators”, expert S added. So for academic programmes, the first step is programme specifications, then coursespecifications, then teaching methods, then theoretical and practical teaching methods, and then indicating and identifyingwhether the programme did what is required or not according to the predetermined criteria. In the light of these steps, thenecessity whether or not there is a need for further enhancement is indicated. What is being done for programmes is done alsowith courses. “According to specific criteria, the process of assuring and accrediting the quality of academic programmes isgoverned…..after establishing the NAQAAE, there are some criteria that are to be achieved and against which the quality ofprogrammes is measured…..we start with academic standards, then academic programmes, then course specifications andteaching this course and writing a report about it…..this is the quality system within academic programme”, expert A said.Departmental LevelAccording to specific criteria, the process of assuring and accrediting the quality within departments is governed. Beforeestablishing the NAQAAE, the operation was performed according to comparison with other similar departments. But afterestablishing the NAQAAE there are some criteria that are to be achieved and against which the quality of departments ismeasured. “Quality assurance centre gives these criteria to departments for making course specifications for achieving thestated benchmarks”, expert A said. Through a discussion between academic staff and students, the process of identifyingwhat is being taught and how it is taught is indicated. This is to identify the teaching methods, exams, facilities andidentifying whether academic staff performed their roles properly, and whether exams are to measure the expected outcomes.After the end of the academic year, a report for the department is to be done. By doing this, the start is with the academicstandards, academic programmes, then course specifications and teaching this course and writing a report about it. Then, thedepartment accumulate all courses in one report to see whether specifications have been achieved or not. After this step, it isto identify the gaps between what is planned before and what has been done and stating the reasons of the existed gaps. “Thedepartment has to submit to the unit several things like course specification, programme specification, plan for development,the research that is done by the department and the community service that is done by the department”, expert S added. Thisis the quality assurance system within the department.Within the department, there are course and programme specifications. In each of them there are requirements for teaching,aims, contents, exams, and educational plan. If it is happened that the person who teaches subject or course travelled oranything else, there is a continuous course and academic content published on university website. This also includes theteaching methods. “Within the departments, there are course and programme specifications….and this is one of the mainmechanisms for assuring quality of courses and programmes in the department”, expert M said. It is to include also theknowledge and skills that the students should gain after their graduation. After finishing the process of teaching specificcourse or programme, the teacher comes to identify what has been done successfully and expressing his suggestions forimprovement in the next academic year. At the end of every term, students assess what they studied in a form ofquestionnaire. It is a main condition for publishing his result to end writing this form which reaches the teacher of the coursevia the department. According to the reaching results of students’ assessment, the teacher modifies his course and plan forenhancing the course. Every academic staff has his own page on the university web site and he should identify what he isdoing and what are his future plans in terms of teaching and learning, research and community service. Through this page heshould make clear what he intends to do in the next academic year. However, there should be space for communication withsimilar departments in both local and global boundaries.54
European Journal of <strong>Educational</strong> Studies 2(2), 2010Institutional LevelThe same idea is with enhancing the institutional abilities of the faculty. Every dimension has it own criteria and it ismeasured according to these criteria. In all of these, the institution must have its own mission, vision and aims. “In thecurrent academic year, there is a plan to change curricula into electronic ones in order to facilitate reaching it to studentsvia the university website”, expert M said. Also, in the current academic year a workshop has been conducted for specifyingthe form of the exam paper in terms of content and outline. “The laboratories and libraries in the faculty reached a goodlevel of advancement…..the faculty has a strategic plan which conforms to the national criteria for education”, expert Madded. The professional development for academic staff is done through specialised programmes in the faculty. Theprofessional development includes teaching and learning, research, management, community service and effective teachingvia programmes in professional development. The Ministry of Higher Education started connecting the increase of salarieswith the quality of performance for enhancing the learning process in the faculty. Each academic staff has to be found fourdays per week and offering help and assistance for students in terms of academic preparation and advice.The faculty has a strategic plan which conforms to the national criteria for education. “We are now proceeding withinstitutional accreditation and programme accreditation”, expert S said. It has a plan for enhancing it. The faculty started toenhance teaching rooms into electronic rooms for assisting academic staff to deal with the mass number of students.However, “the faculty may ask for guidance from other institutions particularly in areas of lack”, expert A said.For the faculty accreditation, QAU is meant by performing all procedures and requirements related to preparing the facultyfor accreditation from the NAQAAE. “All governmental universities started establishing QAC inside universities andestablishing QAUs inside faculties…..quality in education is represented in institutional capacity and educationaleffectiveness”, expert I said. Through self study, and academic criteria and field visits, the unit assists the faculty in obtainingaccreditation. When the faculty is ready for accreditation, the faculty addresses the university and the university consult theQAC which states and examines the faculty’s application. The university then addresses the Ministry of Higher Educationand the ministry addresses the NAQAAE which began to operate its own procedures and requirements of accreditation.National LevelQuality in Egypt has been founded since 1904 as a practice and not as a concept. It became existed in the values of educationin the 1980s. After the Second World War and Egypt has obtained partial independence, there were aims to establish anational university in Egypt. During this time, princess Farida donated by her jewelleries and this assisted establishing thisuniversity which became later known as Cairo University. After this time and due to a financial crisis the university becamenot able to finance itself. It applied then to the government in order to become a governmental university. The government ofthis time formed a committee for evaluating the university (as a form of accreditation in practice and not in concept) whichbecame the first governmental university in Egypt. Such current huge numbers of students existed now were not existedbefore the 1980s. QAAHE as a practice was existed in the Egyptian higher education before establishing the NAQAAE, butdue to the increase in admissions and the requirements of enhancement, it requires establishing this authority. “Beforeestablishing the National Authority for Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Education, the operations of teachingacademic programmes were performed according to comparison with other similar institutions in different countries”, expertA said.QAAHE started in Egypt in 2000 as one of the main projects of HEEP. This project depended on experts in QAAHE fromQuality Assurance Agency (QAA) in the UK. This project started operating its processes across institutional level, universitylevel, and the national level. “They began establishing academic references and strategic plan across the governmentaluniversities”, expert I said. All governmental universities started establishing QACs inside universities and establishingQAUs inside faculties. The main role of these centres and units is to enhance preparing and assisting higher educationinstitutions for obtaining accreditation from the NAQAAE which was established in 2006. “On the ministerial scale, thereare periodical meetings for QACs…..these are legitimate structures for assuring the quality of higher education in Egypt”,expert I said. They began establishing its own law for accrediting higher education, pre-higher education and Al-AzharEducation. “This committee was responsible for putting the parameter for quality assurance and accreditation in highereducation, and to work to establish a new law to initiate a national agency in Egypt”, expert S said. Every educational sectorhas its own policies, orientations and programmes. This is the broad landscape of QAAHE in Egypt. The NAQAAE has itsown vision, mission, aims and tasks for assuring and accrediting the quality of higher education.The main focus of QAAHE in Egypt is on teaching and learning. Because the nature of QAAHE in Egypt is based onstudents the matter which means that it is focused on teaching and learning. There are a lot of weights. The biggest one isdirected to teaching and learning and not to research. However, there is still a weight for research. For example, how manyresearch papers are produced by staff and where were they published? Is there a strategic plan for research or no? What kindof research is done? Is there enough funding? Research should be important as teaching and learning because it is responsibleabout producing new knowledge. Because the concentration of accreditation is on graduates, the focus is on teaching and55
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