Abstract:
Higher education institutions in Africa appear to be completely copying the quality
assurance (QA) frameworks of developed countries instead of conceptualising their
own frameworks for delivering quality higher education outcomes in Africa. Certain
factors (limited funding, inadequate infrastructure, inadequate staffing, relatively low
research outputs, and limited graduate employable skills) characterising higher education
are peculiar to developing countries including Africa. Using a qualitative case‐study
approach through interviews and document reviews, and a “PPP” conceptual framework,
this study examined the foci of quality assurance frameworks of three flagship
universities in Ghana. The findings indicate that the least attention is given to facilities in
the quality assurance frameworks even though limited facilities pose a major challenge
to the quality of higher education outcomes of the universities. The findings indicate that
most attention is paid to programme areas such as teaching and learning. The results of
the study recommend regular and appropriate balancing of the foci of quality assurance
frameworks in the universities to enable them to give optimum attention to all key operational
areas for quality outcomes.
