Factors Affecting Quality Of Higher Education Education Essay

Factors Affecting Quality Of high Education Education EssayThe heightser learning sphere is very crucial in information and has a slip awaying role in all walks of life-time. When providing for property pedagogy choice products post be provoked. higher(prenominal)(prenominal) grooming provided by the public field in Mauritius is unable to meet the demands for a seat at the university. Private sector institutions argon competing with the public sector institutions in teaching method. The number of higher(prenominal) education institutions in both sectors in Mauritius is increasing. Thus, the study is aimed at analysing the quality of education offered at the University of Mauritius.The aspires of the study were(a) To analyze the quality of go offered by the University of Mauritius.(b) To investigate the quality of students of the University of Mauritius.(c) To examine the take aim of increasing demands for courses at the University of Mauritius.The population of stu dy was students from the polar faculties of the University of Mauritius. The sample was two hundred full-time students all attending a grade programme from the five faculties of the university.Data were tabulated, the amount of variables was reduced using the principal component analysis (factor analysis) and then analyzed using a logistic regression.Chapter 1 IntroductionHigher education usually includes set upd education consisting of three to seven years after graduation leading to some specialisation to toss away for a professional activity or for employment in executive positions in disdain, industry, or g overnment service. In Mauritius, higher education is the top nigh level of three sector education system.Higher education is the most important level of education because it maturates the men for the country that leads the acres in vainglorious insight into its future ideals, resources, problems and its solutions. The future of a nation depends swelledly on the qua lity of people groomed in the institution of higher education. Higher education in Mauritius can be traced back to the establishment of the School of Agriculture within the Department of Agriculture in 1914, which became integrated into the UoM when it was established in 1965.After that, lots institutions deem been established in the privy and public sector that argon providing higher education in the fields of medical, engineering, information technology, computer sciences, business studies and commerce. With the increment role of private institutions in catering higher education, the admit was felt to evaluate the quality of education and services offered at the University of Mauritius which is a public sector institution.All over the introduction the universities are recognised as centres of higher learning, which are considered as expedients be onnts of bob upment in the nation building. Universities generate, disseminate and utilise knowledge. As old contri merelyors to economic growth, they produce scientists, engineers, professionals, technicians, scholars, managers and men of exquisite capabilities. The capacity of a nation to develop economically, socially, politically and culturally derives more often than not from the power to develop and engage the capabilities of its people.Chapter 2 Literature ReviewHigher EducationThe full term higher education is usually used to distinguish courses of study, which result in the award of a degree, Diploma or similar advanced qualification, for miscellaneous kinds of further education (Lawton and Gordon. 1993).Higher education constitutes the stage of education which starts after 15 years of shoal for the intellectual work and advanced training of students for their effective leadership role in all walks of national life.Tertiary education level is higher than that attainable on completion of a full secondary education. An accepted definition of higher education is that higher education requires as minimum requirements for admission, the prosperous completion of secondary education or evidence of the acquisition of an equivalent level of knowledge (Terry and Thomas, 1979).Higher education includes all education above level of the secondary school disposed(p) in Colleges, Universities Graduate Schools, Professional Schools, Technical Colleges and Normal Schools (Good, 1973).Higher education is simply the highest part of the education system, in wrong of students progression, the acquisition of education qualifications, its status and its influence over the rest of the educational system.Higher education is said to impart the deepest understanding in the minds of students, rather than the relatively superficial grasp that might be acceptable elsewhere in the system. In higher education, nothing can be taken on deposit and the students have to think for themselves so as to be able to stand on their own feet, intellectually speaking (Barnett, 1997).Higher education is thou ght to advance students to the frontiers of knowledge through their being taught by those who are working in that difficult territory.Sanyal (1982) says that in order to achieve the new planetary order, thither is the need for integrating socio-economic policies with educational policies in each country, as stronger co-operation amongst the third world countries in field of higher education. Development of higher education should not still be contingent upon economic development to achieve the new supranational order but should promote the development of culture in view oft fact that role of science and technology, the life-style and the very sense and value of life under-go changes in the future.Objectives of higher educationAll over the world the universities are recognised as centres of higher learning, which are considered as expedient agents of development in the nation building. Universities generate, disseminate and utilise knowledge. As primary contributors to economic g rowth, they produce scientists, engineers, professionals, technicians, scholars, managers and men of exquisite capabilities.The goal of higher education is to meet two principal needs socio-cultural and developmental of a country. Higher education is an opportunity for individuals to develop their potential. It fulfils the needs for high-level manpower in a society. Its objectives include cultural and material development. It produces individuals who are morally sound and capable of multifarious roles in the society. It is a medium and vehicle for achieving an objective of higher vision, should endeavours, with commitment and larger spending, in higher education (Govt. Of Pakistan, 1999).A countrys social and economic development depends on the temper and level of higher education. This fact is revealed by the statements and findings concluded by the prominent educationists and decision-makers. In the developed countries, the role of higher education in production of high quality human capital is quite evident. The Governor of the State of Kentucky, Paul Patten, once said, I have staked my success as governor on ever-changing the way we deliver higher education to our people. Education and economic development are the twin rails that will lead us to a higher plateau and help us achieve our goal of raising the standard of living in our state. My experience in creating jobs, as the secretary of the economic development, during my term as lieutenant governor, has helped me focus on the needs of our businesses. Those businesses are the customers of our product the graduates in higher education. Increased technology and global competition demand that we develop our students skills and mental capacity so they can share in the tremendous prosperity of our nation. He further emphasized on the quality of higher education and the need for its improvement. He commented, higher education is in trouble. The warning signs could not be clear. Its users (students and famili es) think it charges a premium price for an increasingly mediocre service. Its primary suppliers (secondary schools) often fail to deliver material that meets minimum standards, and its beneficiaries (employers) often are frustrated by the quality of the finished product (McGill,1992).Factors affecting Quality of Higher EducationThe quality of higher education may be enhanced through providing proper professional training to the instructors by revising the existing curricula. Higher education is the most important level of education because it develops the manpower for the country that leads the nation in giving insight into its future ideals, resources, problems, and its solutions. The future of a nation depends largely on the quality of people groomed in the institution of higher education.Factors that contribute the most are the level of competency of teachers, curricula and the standards of students intake, in the deteriorating quality of higher education. Nevertheless inapprop riate funding for student support services, libraries, journals, books, ill equipped laboratories and lack of repair facilities for equipment and non qualified staff are crucial factors in education. Salaries and other allowances consume the university budget, thus, little is left for the items so essential for raising the quality of education. Budgetary constraints, particularly for operation, adversely affect the quality of teaching, especially practical training.2.3.1 school-age childs ExperiencesStudents experiences of their learning and the teaching in the subjects they are studying are one of the more ubiquitous sources of information about the quality of teaching for institutions and individual academics.2.3.2 Student to Staff RatiosWhile at the level of the institution student staff ratios (SSRs) may seem to be a direct consequence of funding levels, institutions in practice spend funds on buildings, on administration, on central services, on marketing, on teachers underta king inquiry, and so on, to very varying cessations, rather than spending it all on teaching time. Low SSRs offer the potential to arrange educational practices that are known to improve educational outcomes. First, close contact with teachers is a good predictor of educational outcomes (Pascarella and Terenzini, 2005) and close contact is more easily possible when at that place are not too many students for each teacher to make close contact with. Second, the volume, quality and timeliness of teachers feedback on students assignments are also good predictors of educational outcomes and again this requires that teachers do not have so many assignments to mark that they cannot provide enough, high-quality feedback, promptly. A gain, low SSRs do not guarantee good feedback or feedback from experienced teachers.2.3.3 Classroom-SizeMeta-analysis of large numbers of studies of class-size effects has shown that the more students there are in a class, the lower the level of student achi evement (Glass and Smith, 1978, 1979). Other important variables are also negatively affected by class size, such as the quality of the educational process in class (what teachers do), the quality of the physical learning environment, the extent to which student attitudes are collateral and the extent of them exhibiting behaviour conducive to learning (Smith and Glass, 1979). These negative class-size effects are greatest for younger students and smallest for students 18 or over (ibid.), but the effects are still quite substantial in higher education. Lindsay and Paton-Saltzberg (1987) fix in an English polytechnic that the probability of gaining an A grade is less than half in a module enrolling 50-60 than it is in a module enrolling less than 20. Large classes have negative effects not entirely on performance but also on the quality of student engagement students are more likely to adopt a sur construction approach in a large class (Lucas et al., 1996) and so to only try to mem o deck up rather than attempt to understand.2.3.4 Class Contact HoursThe number of class contact hours has very little to do with educational quality, fencesitterly of what happens in those hours, what the pedagogical model is, and what the consequences are for the quantity and quality of independent study hours.Independent study hours, to a large extent, resound class contact hours if there is less teaching then students study more and if there is more teaching students study less, making up be hours to similar totals visualizeless of the ratio of teaching to study hours (Vos, 1991). However, some pedagogic systems use class contact in ways that are very overmuch more effective than others at generating effective independent study hours. A review of data from a number of studies by Gardiner (1997) found an average of only 0.7 hours of out-of-class studying for each hour in class, in US colleges. I n contrast each hour of the University of Oxfords tutorials generate on average 11 hours of independent study (Trigwell and Ashwin, 2004).2.3.5 Teaching QualificationsTeachers who have teaching qualifications (normally a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education, or something similar) have been found to be rated more highly by their students than teachers who have no such qualification (Nasr et al., 1996). This finding was in a context where obtaining such a qualification was largely voluntary, and those who have the qualification might be considered to be different in some way from those who have not, and this could be argued to invalidate the comparison. The difference might concern the extent of professionalism or commitment to teaching, but nevertheless there was no control group in the study. A longitudinal study that overcomes this objection has examined the impact over time on students ratings of their teachers, and on teachers thinking about teaching, of (mainly) compulsory initial training during their first year of university teaching, in eight cou ntries. It found improvements on both scale of the Student E valuation of Educational Quality, a questionnaire developed in the US (Marsh, 1982) and tested for use in the U K (Coffey and Gibbs, 2000), and improvements in the sophistication of teachers thinking (as measured by the Approaches to Teaching Inventory, a measure of teaching that predicts the quality of student learning, Trigwell et al., 2004). This improvement in measures of teaching quality could not be attributed to mere maturation or experience as teachers in a control group in institutions without any initial training were found to get worse over their first year, on the same measures (Gibbs and Coffey, 2004).Functions of higher educationThe capacity of a nation to develop economically, socially, politically and culturally derives largely from the power to develop and utilise the capabilities of its people. Higher education thus is considered sine qua non of national development, for it produces the highest level of manpower. In all advanced countries, the universities constitute the main skip of human capital. The most successful discharge of the universities role as a change agent is in the area of science and technology.The training of high-level scientific manpower is a matter of vital national concern. Higher education is today recognised as a capital investiture in education. It is considered investment of human capital which increases labour productivity furthers technological innovation and produces a rate of return markedly higher than that of physical capital. Today we find the world divided into developed and developing countries. The dividing line between them is the capacity of educational and scientific attainments and its application for economic progress and prosperity (The World Bank, 1990).In modern-day times, higher education is considered as a means of human resource development in a society. In advanced countries, universities constitute the main forge of knowledge, ide as and innovations. Today, the most successful discharge of a university as an agent of change is in the area of science and technology. The priming and grooming of high-level professional manpower is a matter of vital concern. As a pathway to socio-economic development in a country, higher education cannot be ignored or given low priority. Higher education in a state of rapid development everywhere in the world as its benefits to the social, economic and cultural life of different communities is realisable. This has led to worldwide exponential expansion of universities and colleges as many more people are encouraged remaining in education. However there are problems. First, higher education is expensive, and its expansion requires ample resources. Second, rapid expansion raises problems of quality assurance and control, as increased numbers could so easily lead to a decline in standards. Third, expansion in the developing world often draws upon the resources, ideas and expertise o f the developed world, even though these may not of all time be appropriate for every different economic and social system (North, 1997).Higher education plays a vital role in the development of a society. For centuries, 3rd institutions had the important role of educating our future political leaders, professionals of tomorrow, businessmen, religious and social philosophers, who serve the community, enrich its values and develop its resources. Universities are complex organisations with multiple missions and a myriad of roles. A university has the roles of providing of theoretical education and professional training, a developer and a disseminator of new knowledge, a catalyst to shape the practice of management and business and a contributor to the community and the national economy (Khurshid, 1998).2.5 The Education system in MauritiusMauritius educational system has for root the British one, as the island was a British colony long ago. After independence in 1968, the new governm ent invested considerably in human and material resources for the education sector and progress has been detect and reached in terms of a per capita grant to children of 3+ and 4+, primary education was free, as well as textbooks, compulsory secondary education up to 16. Higher education courses were offered at University of Mauritius and the University of Technology for affordable fees.Since 1977, secondary education has been free. As for full time undergraduate level at the University of Mauritius, it was free since 1988. cease education is funded by the State which strain huge budgets and subsidize a big part of the grant aided secondary schools expenses. With universal primary education being achieved in the 1970s, free education in 1977, and legislation making education up to 16 years of age compulsory, the challenges policymakers have had to face have related to broadening access at the higher education level, improving quality, and strengthening the management of the sector (while ensuring equity). The financing of higher education is basically via the government and students/parents.Students enrolled in public higher educational institutions are funded to a very large extent by the government. Students enrolled in local private higher education institutions and those in overseas institutions pay the full cost of their education.The key factors influencing the quality of higher education are the quality of faculty, political platform standards, technological understructure available, look into environment, accreditation regime and the administrative policies and procedures implemented in institutions of higher learning.The overall vision of government was spelt out in the New Economic agendum formulated in 2000. The main challenge was to move gradually away from traditional sectors to the services sector. The objective was to diversify manufacturing into higher valueadded markets and to consolidate services (financial, ICT, etc.) as a fourth pilla r of economic development. To attract new investment and to maintain the countrys competitiveness, a highly productive skilled workforce was seen as imperative. With a view to setting Mauritius on a higher growth path, the country has recognised the importance of developing higher education as a regional hub for high quality education and training, to ensure that the knowledge industry acts as a catalyst in broadening the Mauritian economy, and in providing the required support to the existing and upcoming sectors. There has been a dramatic paradigm shift in the development strategy mooted by the government.In summary, it has been accepted by government that the education system, especially higher education, needs to be reorientated to respond more effectively.Higher education in Mauritius can be traced back to the establishment of the School of Agriculture within the Department of Agriculture in 1914, which became integrated into the UoM when it was established in 1965. However, i t was only in postindependent Mauritius that several public higher education institutions were created, which were complementary to UoM.Over the years the higher education sector has become increasingly diversified.2.5.1 Pre-Primary SectorThis sector caters for children 4+ and since a few years for 3+. The State provides a grant of R 200 per child. The private institutions occupy 80% of the educational provision in the sector.The following measures are part of policy developments to consolidate the sectorStrengthening the institutional and regulatory framework for the provision of Early Childhood Care and Education. simplification of disparity among pre-schools.Addressing the problem of out-of-schools pre-primary children due to absolute poverty.Developing a National Curriculum Framework for the pre-primary subsector.Ensuring readiness of all pre-primary school children for primary school.Construction of pre-primary units in disadvantaged areasStrengthening partnerships with parents through a Parent Empowerment Program.2.5.2 Primary sectorThe enrolment in primary school takes effect at the age of five and enters the Standard I and moves gradually up to Standard VI. The CPE is an examination carried out at national level in all schools and follows a grading system. There are five compulsory subjects English, French, Mathematics, Science and History and Geography. The grading process works on the five best grades along with Asian/Arabic languages.Several initiatives have been implemented in primary institutions to improve the CPE results. This gave rise to the Zones d Education Prioritaires (Z.E.P.). This targets those schools with low performance over 5 consecutive years. ulterior on in 2011, Enhancement Programme was introduced for STD III and IV. Moreover, the Sankor project was one where STD IV classes were equipped with interactive wall fixed projectors.2.5.3 Secondary sectorFor a child to be admitted to a secondary college, it all depends on the CPE resu lts. There are three categories of secondary schools State owned grant-aided private schools, and fully private fee-paying schools. The secondary school experience begins with Form 1 up to Form VI, an achievement of seven years. Since 2010, a national curriculum has been set up for Forms I-III. The curriculum encloses all subjects up to Form III including English, French, Mathematics and the Social and Hard Sciences.When reaching Form IV, students are offered option form where they have to choose at least six major subjects for O-level exams in Form V. Later, for A Level examination, students will have to specialize in 3 main subjects and 2 subordinate subjects. These two important examinations are undertaken by the University of Cambridge through the University of Cambridge International Examinations which sets up the syllabus, prepares the examination papers and undertakes correction for most subjects.2.5.4 TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and teaching)The Mauritius con tribute of Training and Development (MITD) is the main provider of the TVET program. Its purpose is to offer a variety of technical programs to students willing to meet the needs of the world of work at a middle professional level. Courses at the National Diploma are also provided at the MITD. The TVET sector is monitored and regulated by the Mauritius Qualifications Authority.2.5.5 Tertiary sectorIt was in 1924 that tertiary education started with the College of Agriculture. It has developed and diversified it now composes of public, private, regional and overseas institutions offering for a wide choice of courses and programmes.Through years, this education sector has given rise to other institutions with different characteristics and disciplines. Distance education has also been part of the sector. Some important institutions of the public sector are the University of Mauritius (UoM), the University of Technology (UTM), the Mauritius Institute of Education (MIE), the Mahatma Gand hi Institute (MGI), the Mauritius Institute of Training and Development (MITD) and the Open University of Mauritius (OUM). Besides all these, the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) is responsible for the allocation of public funds, planning, and coordination of post-secondary education and training as well.In addition, private institutions are more and more present in the tertiary education sector where they are proposing courses in areas like Information Technology, Law, account statement and Finance, and Management.2.6 The University of MauritiusThe University of Mauritius (UOM) is a national University of Mauritius. It is the oldest and largest Mauritian university in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered. It is situated at Rduit, Moka. The University was inaugurated on 24th March 1972 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II accompanied by His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh. Over the past decades, in response to the contemporaneous and emerging needs of the miscel laneous sectors of the Mauritian economy, the university now has progressed from being a mostly in-service training institution to a fully-fledged university, concentrating increasingly on bachelors degrees, postgraduate programmes, research and consultancy.The universitys current strategic plan, strategical Directions 2006-2015, has the following six strategic directionsKnowledge creationKnowledge diffusionInvesting in resourcesQuality culture and good governanceNational, regional and international collaborationsCommunity outreachThe University of Mauritius has committed itself to continuous improvement and quality management. These are the actions that the university is trying to cater forEnsuring relevance interact proactively with the world of work and the community to cater for emergent requirements while inculcating a wider sense of belonging to the university.Ensuring quality of teaching and learning enhance existing provisions for continuous improvement in the quality of teaching and learning, and work progressively towards the implementation of best practice.Strengthen research develop further the universitys research capacity and research management plan.Internationalize the university improve the international standing of the university and expand its role and programme of activities.Amongst Mauritian universities the UoM stands out both in terms of its dominance with regard to enrolment and it numerous pockets of excellence with regard to research. The UoM is the largest supplier of tertiary education locally, accounting for 22.2% of total higher education enrolment.FacultiesOriginally, the university had three schools, viz. Agriculture, Administration and Industrial Technology. It has since expanded to comprise five faculties, namely Faculty Of Agriculture, Faculty Of Engineering, Faculty Of Law and Management, Faculty Of Science, and Faculty Of Social Studies Humanities. The faculties are entangled in teaching, research and consultancy. I t has also a Centre for medical Research and Studies, a Centre for Distance Education, a Centre for Information Technology and Systems, and a Consultancy Centre. Following these on-campus developments and expansions, it resulted in a simultaneous increase in the number and in the diversity of programmes being offered, and the number of students enrolled.The programmes of the University are internationally recognized and include quality assurance mechanisms such as the external examiner system and affiliated with renowned Universities worldwide. There is a Quality Assurance Office which helps the University in maintaining and improving the quality of all its activities. There are various exchange agreements that have been established between the UOM and overseas universities.Students UnionThe Students Union, established in 1971, is run by and for the students. It work in the interest of students and regularly spring various activities. All students are members, the membership fee b eing included in the registration. Students are very dynamic in organizing extracurricular activities supported by the Public Relations Office.Chapter 3 Research Methodology3.1 Problem Statement and Research ObjectivesWhen the problem has been clearly defined and the objectives of the research precisely stated the research can be designed properly. As it is often said, a problem well defined is a solved one.The problem statement for this study is that there is each year a high level of demand for a seat at University of Mauritius though there are other tertiary institutions in Mauritius. This study tries to find out the reasons behind this high demand.For this dissertation the research objectives areTo analyze the quality of services offered by the University of Mauritius.To investigate the quality of students of the University of Mauritius.To understand the level of increasing demands for courses at the University of Mauritius.To achieve the objectives mentioned above, a questionna ire has been administered to the different students in the form of face to face interview to collect information about the different factors affecting their learning experience at the University of Mauritius and hence facilitating the analysis of the information gathered.3.2 Determine Research DesignResearch design can be considered as the basic plan which guides the data collection and analysis phases of the research project. There are three main types of research used in projectsDescriptive researchCausal researchExploratory researchExploratory research is unstructured, informal research undertaken to have background information when the researcher does not know much about the problem. On the other hand in the descriptive method, research problem is well defined and structured and can be used to come questions such as who, why, where, what and how (Burns and Bush, 2003), whereas causal research examines the effect of one variable on another one. The research undertaken in this st udy is descriptive in nature. The purpose of the research is to investigate, analyse and evaluate the student learning experience at the University of Mauritius.Data sources and Data CollectionPrimary dataThe only steps involved in collecting data is to look for primary data which consists of information collected for the first time to meet the specific needs of the investigation of the researcher. These can be in the form of letters, e-mails and interviews. Primary sources are more supportive, they address directly the requirements of the researcher though it might be costly.