Academic staff competence development as a gap in quality assurance in universities in Uganda

Abstract

Over the last three decades, higher education institutions (HEIs) in Uganda have accepted an unprecedentedly high number of students. However, as this trend has improved access and equity, it has also affected aspects of quality assurance in higher education delivery. Subsequently, attention is being paid to development of structures for quality assurance. However, despite commonplace understanding that quality in university education depends on the quality of the academic staff, universities are paying little attention to the professional competence of the latter. This paper discusses this anomaly with the conclusion that it threatens quality, especially in today’s digital era. Therefore, “analysis of quality in every single task” (QUEST) approaches are recommended for the universities.

Keywords: Quality assurance; Competence development; Academic staff