8 - “University is ISO 9000:2008 Certified”: Neoliberal Echoes, Knowledge Production and Quality Assurance in Kenyan State Universities
Corresponding Author(s) : Ishmael I. Munene
Journal of Higher Education in Africa,
Vol. 11 No. 1-2 (2013): Journal of Higher Education in Africa
Abstract
In Africa, Quality Assurance (QA) in universities has acquired a sense of urgency owing to the rapid growth of the university sector in the last two decades. The adoption of neoliberal tenets in the development of universities has witnessed the surge in student numbers and types of degree-granting institutions. The decline in budgetary support for higher education, evident in average per-student expenditure decline from US $6,300 to $1,500 by 1990, rising student enrolments coupled with inadequate and outdated teaching and learning resources, alongside massive staff exodus as well as poor governance have raised troubling questions about the quality of education provided. The rising concerns about the quality of the institutions and the graduates have catalyzed national educational authorities and individual institutions to institute quality assurance strategies in order to enhance the quality of education provide. This paper looks at how neoliberalism has undermined faculty validation of learning within the context of QA. Faculty exclusion in knowledge validation via QA is examined from the following themes: national accreditation, ISO certification, internal QA units, internships & attachments, and the deployment of information communication technologies. It is apparent that the development of universities along the neoliberal paradigm has eroded faculty prerogatives in QA as market ideals have triumphed over academic principles.
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- Arreol, R., 2000, Developing a Comprehensive Faculty Evaluation 2nd Edition, Bolton: Anker.
- Bloom, D., 2004, Globalization and Education: An Economic Perspective, in M. Suarez- Orozco, and D.Qin-Hilliard, Globalization, Culture and Education in the New Millenium. Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 56-77.
- Bloomfield, D., 2008, Neo-liberal Accreditation Agendas: Challenges and Opportunities for Professional Experience. Retrieved from Australian Association for Educational Research: http://www.aare.edu.au/publications-database.php/5575/Neo-liberal-accreditation-agendas:-Challenges-and-opportunities-for- Professional-Experience(Accessed October 10, 2014).
- Bowman, N. and Michael, B., 2011, “Anchoring” the World Class University Rankings. International Higher Education, 65, 2-3.
- Cardini, A., 2006, An Analysis of the Rhetoric and Practice of Educational Partnerships in the UK: An Arena of Complexities, Tensions and Power, Journal of Educational Policy, 21, 4, 393-415.
- Cross, M. and Naidoo, D, 2011, Peer Review and the Dilemmas of Quality Control in Programme Accreditation in South African Higher Education: Challenges and Possibilities. Higher Education Policy, 24, 517-534.
- Elder, F., 2004, Campus Accreditation: Here Comes the Corporate Model, Thought & Action, Winter, 99-104.
- Felder, R. and Brent, R., 2004, The Intellectual Development of Science and Engineering Students 1.
- Models and Challenges. Journal of Engineering Education, 93, 4, 269-277.
- Foucault, M., 1983, Afterword: The Subject and Power, in H. Dreyfus, and P. Rainbow, Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 229-252.
- Giroux, H., 2002, Neoliberalism, Corporate Culture and the Promise of Higher Education: The University as a Democratic Public Sphere, Harvard Educational Review, 72, 4, 425-439.
- Graves, Willam et. al., 1997, Infusing Information Technology into Academic Process, in P. e.
- Marvin, Planning and Managment for a Changing Environment, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc. Publishers, pp. 432-452.
- Kenyatta University, 2011, 2011 - 2012 Operations Budget Important Statistics, Kenyatta University Finance Department.
- Kiamba, C., 2004, The Experience of Privately Sponsored Studentship and other Income Generating Activities at the University of Nairobi, Journal of Higher Education in Africa 2 no. 2, pp. 53-73.
- Mamdani, M., 2007, Scholars in the Marketplace: Dilemmas of Neo-liberal Reform at Makerere University, 1989-2005, Dakar, Senegal: CODESRIABooks.
- Materu, P., 2007, Higher Education Quality Assurance in Sub-Saharan Africa, Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.
- Munene, I., 2003, Student Activism in African Higher Education, in D. Teferra and P. Altbach, African Higher Education: An International Reference Handbook, Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, pp. 117 - 127.
- Munene, I., 2008, Privatising the Public: Marketisation as a Strategy in Public University, Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 13 no. 1, pp. 1-17.
- Munene, I., 2013, Our University: Ethnicity, Higher Education and the Quest for State Legitimacy in Kenya, Higher Education Policy, 26, 43-63.
- Munene, I. and Otieno, W., 2007, Changing the Course: Equity Effects and Institutional Risk Amid Policy Shift in Higher Education Financing in Kenya, Higher Education, 55, 461-479.
- Ntshoe, I., 2004, Higher Education and Training Policy and Practice in South Africa: Impacts of Global Privatization, Quasi-Marketization and New Managerialism, International Journal of Educational Development, 24, pp. 137- 154.
- Pun, K. and Chin, K., 1999, A Self-Assessed Quality Management System Based on Integration of MBNQA/ISO 14000, International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, 16, 6, 606-629.
- Salmi, J., 2011, Nine Common Erros in Building a New World-Class University, International Higher Education, 62, 5-7.
- Sifuna, D., 2010, Some Reflections on the Expansion and Quality of Higher Education in Public Universities in Kenya. Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 14, 4, 415-425.
- Slaughter, S. and Larry, L., 1997, Academic Capitalism: Politics, Policies and the Entrepreneurial University, Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
- University, K., 2004, The Weekly: A Newsletter from the Vice-Chancellor’s Office Special Edition, Kenyatta University.
- Zeleza, P., 2003, Academic Freedom in the Neo-Liberal Order: Governments, Globalization, Governance and Gender, Journal of Higher Education in Africa, 1 no. 1, pp. 149-194.
References
Arreol, R., 2000, Developing a Comprehensive Faculty Evaluation 2nd Edition, Bolton: Anker.
Bloom, D., 2004, Globalization and Education: An Economic Perspective, in M. Suarez- Orozco, and D.Qin-Hilliard, Globalization, Culture and Education in the New Millenium. Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 56-77.
Bloomfield, D., 2008, Neo-liberal Accreditation Agendas: Challenges and Opportunities for Professional Experience. Retrieved from Australian Association for Educational Research: http://www.aare.edu.au/publications-database.php/5575/Neo-liberal-accreditation-agendas:-Challenges-and-opportunities-for- Professional-Experience(Accessed October 10, 2014).
Bowman, N. and Michael, B., 2011, “Anchoring” the World Class University Rankings. International Higher Education, 65, 2-3.
Cardini, A., 2006, An Analysis of the Rhetoric and Practice of Educational Partnerships in the UK: An Arena of Complexities, Tensions and Power, Journal of Educational Policy, 21, 4, 393-415.
Cross, M. and Naidoo, D, 2011, Peer Review and the Dilemmas of Quality Control in Programme Accreditation in South African Higher Education: Challenges and Possibilities. Higher Education Policy, 24, 517-534.
Elder, F., 2004, Campus Accreditation: Here Comes the Corporate Model, Thought & Action, Winter, 99-104.
Felder, R. and Brent, R., 2004, The Intellectual Development of Science and Engineering Students 1.
Models and Challenges. Journal of Engineering Education, 93, 4, 269-277.
Foucault, M., 1983, Afterword: The Subject and Power, in H. Dreyfus, and P. Rainbow, Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 229-252.
Giroux, H., 2002, Neoliberalism, Corporate Culture and the Promise of Higher Education: The University as a Democratic Public Sphere, Harvard Educational Review, 72, 4, 425-439.
Graves, Willam et. al., 1997, Infusing Information Technology into Academic Process, in P. e.
Marvin, Planning and Managment for a Changing Environment, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc. Publishers, pp. 432-452.
Kenyatta University, 2011, 2011 - 2012 Operations Budget Important Statistics, Kenyatta University Finance Department.
Kiamba, C., 2004, The Experience of Privately Sponsored Studentship and other Income Generating Activities at the University of Nairobi, Journal of Higher Education in Africa 2 no. 2, pp. 53-73.
Mamdani, M., 2007, Scholars in the Marketplace: Dilemmas of Neo-liberal Reform at Makerere University, 1989-2005, Dakar, Senegal: CODESRIABooks.
Materu, P., 2007, Higher Education Quality Assurance in Sub-Saharan Africa, Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.
Munene, I., 2003, Student Activism in African Higher Education, in D. Teferra and P. Altbach, African Higher Education: An International Reference Handbook, Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, pp. 117 - 127.
Munene, I., 2008, Privatising the Public: Marketisation as a Strategy in Public University, Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 13 no. 1, pp. 1-17.
Munene, I., 2013, Our University: Ethnicity, Higher Education and the Quest for State Legitimacy in Kenya, Higher Education Policy, 26, 43-63.
Munene, I. and Otieno, W., 2007, Changing the Course: Equity Effects and Institutional Risk Amid Policy Shift in Higher Education Financing in Kenya, Higher Education, 55, 461-479.
Ntshoe, I., 2004, Higher Education and Training Policy and Practice in South Africa: Impacts of Global Privatization, Quasi-Marketization and New Managerialism, International Journal of Educational Development, 24, pp. 137- 154.
Pun, K. and Chin, K., 1999, A Self-Assessed Quality Management System Based on Integration of MBNQA/ISO 14000, International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, 16, 6, 606-629.
Salmi, J., 2011, Nine Common Erros in Building a New World-Class University, International Higher Education, 62, 5-7.
Sifuna, D., 2010, Some Reflections on the Expansion and Quality of Higher Education in Public Universities in Kenya. Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 14, 4, 415-425.
Slaughter, S. and Larry, L., 1997, Academic Capitalism: Politics, Policies and the Entrepreneurial University, Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
University, K., 2004, The Weekly: A Newsletter from the Vice-Chancellor’s Office Special Edition, Kenyatta University.
Zeleza, P., 2003, Academic Freedom in the Neo-Liberal Order: Governments, Globalization, Governance and Gender, Journal of Higher Education in Africa, 1 no. 1, pp. 149-194.