Impediments in the Quality Assurance of Higher Education Sector of Pakistan

Abstract

Quality of higher education institutes determines the future of any nation. Higher education commission (HEC) has strived hard to elevate the standards of higher education in Pakistan but desired results have not been redeemed. This article endeavors to highlight barriers in the implementation of quality assurance mechanism devised by HEC and higher education institutes (HEIs) to improve quality of both teaching and research. Data were collected from 204 Government sector and 205 faculty members of private sector universities in the Punjab Province and the Capital Islamabad. T-test for independent sample was applied to find the dissimilarities in the views of government sector and faculty members of private universities about hurdles in the quality assurance procedure adopted by their respective universities. It was revealed that inconsistent policies, ambiguous targets and lack of training regarding quality assurance practices were main hurdles.