Issues that Have Affected Quality Assurance in the Albanian Higher Education System between 1992-2012 (original) (raw)

Quality Management in Higher Education; Challenges of Private Universities in Albania

European Journal of Education

Higher education is considered as one of the main socio-economic development factors of the society. Quality assurance in higher education shall be one of the main priorities of the government and civil society. Expectations for a better performance in the quality of teaching, scientific research and other similar activities, obliges the university managers and administrators to review their strategy. For this reason, the demand for quality in higher education is increasing. After assessing the current state of the private educational institutions in Albania in terms of quality and of identifying the existing issues, there will be provided some recommendations and suggestions for improvement in relation to the future challenges. For this reason, in the theoretical framework of references from literature assessment, a specific total quality management framework (TQM) will be developed.

Albanian Higher Education Strategy

Since its inception, the governments of 29 European countries (member states of the Bologna Declaration in 1999) had as their main target the creation of a common and coherent system of Higher Education Area in Europe (EHEA). The main intention for the creation of a 'European Education Area' was the fostering of student mobility and employability in order to strengthen competition and to make the European Higher Education more attractive. The main focus of this paper is the analysis of the National Periodic Reports for the period 2004-2009, the Albanian National Strategy for Higher Education 2014-2020, and a study on the presence of Quality Assurance Institutions in Higher Education, based on the report from the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Exécutive Agency. The methodology chosen by the authors of this paper is to divide into four groups the countries that have established a national or private Quality Assurance Institution as part of their higher education system in order to assess whether the existence/ presence of such institutions act as key instruments to ensuring the quality of higher education. It is recommended that Albania even though listed in the group of countries establishing a National Quality Assurance Agency, can 'maybe' follow the model of those European countries that have established a further Private Quality Assurance Agency in addition to the National Quality Assurance Agency. It is believed that the further establishment of a carefully chosen private quality assurance agency (ENQA or EQAR) would ensure quality and guarantee transparency in higher education.

Legal Framework for Higher Education Quality State Standards. A Case of Albania

2012

Albania’s higher education development is very dynamic. Higher education in Albania is being characterised by a massive expansion process and by competition between both the public and private education sectors. The number of higher education institutions has grown fivefold during the last eight years. There are currently thirteen (�3) public and forty six (�6) private institutions. This article is aimed at the research of analysing the legal framework for higher education quality state standards. This analysis will address three important issues: �. What is the legal framework for higher education quality state standards? �. How is the quality assured in higher education institutions? 3. To what extent are Albanian quality standards compared to the European ones? This study is based on an analysis of the domestic and European legislation, interviews with fifteen (��) key persons that are divided in three groups: officials of the Ministry of Education and Science/Public Agency for t...

Comparing ENQA, British, German & Albanian Standards of Quality in Higher Education

The development and enhancement of life conditions and standards of living, which are enabled by progress in technology, social life, cultural life, scientific researches and new inventions is very tightly and positively connected with higher education. The desire to have better life conditions has stimulated people toward new technological and social inventions which have made life easier. This desire have put people in an infinity road of continuously developing new standards of education to have a more qualitative education leading to those nowadays technological and social progresses making world a fast changing environment. This cycle is bringing us year by year a more qualitative education system based on the competition of universities, states and continents to be the first choice of the students around the world. Universities and Academics in collaboration with university accreditation agencies and universities quality control organizations are working so hard to maintain and increase standards of quality in higher education in their hometowns. Maintaining and assuring qualitative education is a basic point in order to have credibility in the educative institutions and national educative system. This study is covering the examination of the quality of standards in higher education in European countries which are part of ENQA having a harmonized higher system of education for more than 10 years. Also a detailed study of German higher education system, as an example of a country being part of ENQA, examining standards and criterion evaluation of the quality of higher education in this country. The study except of examination will compare these standards in ENQA countries with British and Albanian quality standards in higher education. Britain's organization which is covering the evaluation of the higher education system and controlling the fulfillment of the standards and criterion is QAA and it has slightly different standards when compared to ENQA. In this study it has been investigated the whole higher education system of the region and the effectiveness and quality of education in the universities and colleges of UK. Albania is part of ENQA from 18 September 2003 (Golloshi, 2013) when the Bologna Declaration was signed. But Albania because of being a developing country is having difficulties in accomplishing all the standards and criterion as European Countries. This decade has been very crucial for changes in education system in Albania and the system is being developed year by year. The study examines and compares the fulfillment and quality of standards in Albania with those of other European countries and also will compare the higher education system of the small developing country of Albania with those of Great Britain.

Is quality of higher educational institutions in Western Balkan real?

Industrija, 2015

The paper presents a survey conducted in November of 2013 in 120 higher education institutions in the Western Balkans Countries, with purpose to determine which models are used for quality improvement in Western Balkans higher educational institutions, and whether critical conditions for continuous quality improvement have been met by applying those models. Data were obtained by using questionnaire which consisted of 24 questions related to 2 previously defined hypotheses. Gathered data were tested with Student's t test to determine if there is a significant difference between the groups of higher educational institutions which use different quality models, as well as between private and public higher educational institutions. Authors argue that the rules imposed by Governments do not provide sufficient incentive for meeting the critical conditions for the continuous quality improvement. Legal framework and mandatory accreditation conducted by government bodies lead higher educational institutions to fulfil the formal requirements, distancing them from the essence of quality management, i.e. from self-criticism and motivation to consistently deliver better results than the previous ones and giving them the illusion of achieving quality through compliance with formal criteria.

Academic Attitudes to the Reform of Bologna: Quality Assurance

2021

Increasing the quality of higher education institutions has been the focus of the academic leaders in Albania since the Bologna reform was signed. Quality assurance also affects the academic community who have to implement the reform. The purpose of the research is to reflect and evaluate the academic attitudes to quality assurance. This research is based on a mixed methodology that consists of a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods, primary and secondary data. Participants in this study were invited to assess the quality of higher education. To increase the reliability and validity of combined methods such as focus groups with lecturers (50), and semi-structured interviews with rectors (7) were used in the study. The analysis of secondary data in this study consisted of a review of existing international and national literature including studies, reports, assessments related to trends and quality issues of higher education. It shows that quality assurance ha...

Quality Infrastructure in Higher Education – The Case of Serbia

The growing educational opportunities and needs for development of education are creating a changing environment for higher education systems throughout the world. The majority of countries have developed an entire industry of higher education with the strong influence of quality standards through the accreditation systems, as part of national quality infrastructure (NQI) and more specifically of the educational quality assurance process regarding the ways to meet the needs of different stakeholders and interested parties. Accreditation as main cohesive factor of other NQI elements aims at providing necessary levels of students’ confidence and trust, in the long run. In accordance with the Serbian National Accreditation Body report, we investigated trends with regard to data from different scientific fields Serbian public and private universities belong to, as well as timing of their accreditation. High quality of distance learning (DL) curricula is among the critical success factors for the higher education industry. Thus, we put an additional effort to take into consideration DL data, since this dimension of education becomes increasingly popular and attractive in Serbia.

The Transformation of the Higher Education Sector in Albania

The Transformation of the Higher Education Sector in Albania, 2017

This study concentrates on the higher education sector in Albania in both eras (communism and democracy), with the main focus on the last 25 years. So, the research briefly lies in the post-communist era in Albania. Despite the increase in level and performance compared to the communist era and the first two post-communist decades, higher education in Albania still continues to suffer as a result of the failure to identify and implement an appropriate higher education model. Because of an institutional legacy of dysfunction left over from the past, HEIs in Albania face difficulties in reforming. Small improvements in level and performance are happening due to increased competition in the sector, increased freedom and independence of universities, and the adoption of the first steps of higher education reform. University, more than the stage where the prospective professionals get prepared, is the shelter that holds theoretical and practical citizens, therefore, a part of university orientation should be towards liberal arts. The quality of higher education in Albania has failed to significantly improve despite the fact that the number of students in the higher education system has almost tripled over the last decade. This primarily requires reforming teaching methods and modernizing curricula. The completion rates of students who graduate from HEIs in Albania are very low. There is also a discrepancy between the higher education system in Albania, which produces many graduates, and the labour market needs. Significant changes in the higher education system in Albania concretely mean: a) improving the quality of teaching (this includes modernizing teaching methods and upgrading curricula); b) providing more opportunities for practical learning and work experience; c) providing more support to graduates to find appropriate jobs matching their field of study and level of qualification; d) founding incentive policies to increase the completion rates of students graduated from HEIs in Albania; and e) combating corruption through the ethics committees in HEIs.

The Development of Higher Education in Albania, Problems and Challenges

Journal of Education, Teaching and Social Studies

Education is considered as one of the main pillars of society. An educated society leads the development of a nation. Education is also one of the areas which is also strongly influenced by it and social change. The fact that the educational systems are in permanent change does not show instability. But rather on the other side, they serve to better adapt the society which is changing. Starting from the beginning the education system in Albania has experienced changes after the collapse of the communist system and the approach of society to these changes has been a sensitive issue. These changes were not very studied, since they were in a very unfavorable environments, in which our education system came from a widespread politicization, and they did not always have the right fruits which was often perceived by us as experiments. These changes have not passed without debate, not only by academics, but also by students and civil society. Methodology: The work is based on a comparative...

An Analysis of Recent Changes in Higher Education and Research in Albania

Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 2015

Higher education is a public good as well as a public responsibility. It is realized from higher education institutions and is regulated by higher education legislation in the Republic of Albania. From January 2014 in Albania started a reform process in higher education and research. The way how this reform is realized is a particular way because the drafting of it is entrusted to an independent Commission. The Commission consists of academics and experts in higher education. The result of the reform consists in a draft law which abrogates the law no.9741, dated 21.5.2007 "On higher education in the Republic of Albania". The draft law has already initiated its legislative process. This paper seeks to be one of the first works that examines some of the innovations in this draft law. The draft consists of thirteen chapters. In my opinion two are the most important innovations. The first innovation relates to the proposal of a new way of organizing and functioning of institutions of higher education which clearly separates academic and administrative leadership. The highest academic governing body is the Academic Senate and the highest academic authority remains the Rector of the Institution which is its legal representative for academic affairs. The highest administrative governing body is the Board of Administration, which guarantees the fulfilment of the mission of the institution and its financial and administrative conduct. The draft law creates a new figure who is the administrator of the Institution who is the highest administrative authority responsible for the financial functioning of the institution. The administrator is the legal representative of the institution for financial and administrative matters. This paper will analyze the relationship between academic and administrative structures. A hotly debated innovation of the reform is the creation of another type of institution which is the Independent public institution of higher education known as a public legal person. The special thing about this institution is that it is created as a result of the transformation of the existing institutions of higher education, on their demand, but only when they meet preset criteria set by law. Can be transformed into public legal persons not only public institutions, but also non-public higher education. The new institution is non-profit and regardless of the origin of the foundation, the institution applies the same rules of organization. To the new institution will apply the provisions for public institutions of higher education in all cases when is not otherwise provided. The methodology used will be analytical.