n Makro-perspektief op kwaliteitsversekering in hoer onderwys

SUMMARY
Quality assurance has emerged as a vital element in tertiary education
management at both the macro- and the institutional levels in the
Netherlands as well as the united Kingdom. Although, from the nature
of the matter, the situation in South Africa would obviously differ
from that in these two respective countries, it is clear that
universities and technikons may both learn considerably from the
British and Dutch experiences. However, in this study the focus will
be on technikons.
In both the Netherlands and Britain comprehensive quality assurance
systems have been established within the realm of higher education
during the past decade. Although this phenomenon was largely prompted
by external pressures, educational institutions themselves,
individually and collectively, contributed substantially to the
present system. Characteristic of the Dutch and British dispensations
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is the willingness on the part of the authorities to create structures
for quality assurance. Such structures are still largely absent in
South Africa. Compared to the British and Dutch systems, there is,
particUlarly within local university education, very little by way of
collective structures and actions towards ensuring quality.
The link between quality of education and state funding is well
established in the overseas countries studied. As a corollary to
this, various measuring instruments have been developed for the
purpose of determining quality. In this respect it is significant
that in the United Kingdom the emphasis is on performance criteria,
while in the Netherlands preference is given to peer evaluation.
Although the State may through its actions do a great deal to ensure
quality of education, individual institutions cannot escape
accountability for the development of self-evaluation systems and
promoting an internal quality culture and value system aimed at
enhanced quality. However, in the process it is important to maintain
a balance between efficiency in terms of management and effectiveness
in terms of output.