PERSPECTIVES OF INNOVATIONS, ECONOMICS & BUSINESS, VOLUME 15, ISSUE 1, 2015

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QUALITY ASSURANCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION

APPROACHES TO QUALITY ASSURANCE AND ABDULLAH SAIF AL TOBI,
ACCREDITATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION: A SOLANE DUQUE
COMPARISON BETWEEN THE SULTANATE OF
OMAN AND THE PHILIPPINES College of Arts and Sciences,
University of Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman
KEYWORDS: Quality assurance, accreditation, higher education, quality audit

PIEB | ISSN 1804-0527 | Perspectives of Innovations, Economics and Business

ABSTRACT: Quality Assurance (QA) is generally defined as part of the overall management
function that determines and implements the quality policy (intentions and directions of the
organization). This paper discusses the different definitions of quality, quality terminologies,
accreditation, and comparison between the different approaches to quality assurance as
applied in the Sultanate of Oman and in the Philippines according to their specific purposes.
http://dx.doi.org/10.15208/pieb.2015.03 PIEB, Vol.15 (1), PP.41-48
Source: Al Tobi A.S., Duque, S., 2015. "Approaches to quality assurance and accreditation in higher
education: A comparison between the Sultanate of Oman and the Philippines", Perspectives of
Innovations, Economics & Business, Vol.15(1), pp.41-48, http://dx.doi.org/10.15208/pieb.2015.03

Introduction1

The concept of quality assurance started in the manufacturing sector (OED, 2006),
where principles like Total Quality Management (TQM), 5S of Good Housekeeping,
and Poka-Yoke for mistake-proofing were applied to achieve conformance of products
or services to set specifications in order to guarantee customer satisfaction.
In higher education institutions (HEIs) quality assurance is applied in order to achieve
“quality education”. The concept of quality in HEIs, however, varies depending on
whose opinion is in perspective. Students may define quality in terms of their
classroom experience - the facilities and the faculty; for parents it may mean the
employability of their children upon completion of their degrees; for the faculty it
may mean the staff development programs provided by the HEIs; for the employers -
the competence of the graduates joining the workforce; and for the institutions it
may mean the quality and quantity of research outputs. Quality assurance in HEIs,
therefore, must be able to manage experiences of all the stake holders - students,
faculty and staff, community and industry, and the institution itself.

Defining quality assurance and quality terminologies

Quality assurance is part of the general management that sets the quality policy of
the organization (OED, 2006). It ensures that the policies and procedures are designed

1
This paper was presented to PICP Conference Proceedings "Internationalisation in Higher Education:
Management of Higher Education and Research", 13.04.2015, Prague
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corresponding email: aaltobi[at]unizwa(dot)edu(dot)om
postal address: Initial Campus, Birkat Al Mouz, Nizwa,
Sultanate of Oman, P.O. Box 33, PC 616
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APPROACHES TO QUALITY ASSURANCE AND ACCREDITATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION: OMAN AND THE PHILIPPINES

in such a way that processes and practices are geared towards achieving the expected
output.
The quality assurance in HEIs starts with the vision, mission and objectives (VMO) and
setting the strategies to achieve them. A SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats) is usually an important tool towards developing a good
strategic plan. A strategic plan clearly lays out the HEIs’ goals and sub-goals, key
performance indicators, targets and measures, and responsibilities; and is converted
into operational and action plans that guide the different departments and units. The
strategies and implementation steps in the strategic and operational plans integrate
the systems, policies, and practices that the HEIs have set in place in order to
implement, monitor and improve their educational mission and objectives. This is
internal quality assurance (IQA).
However, although HEIs may be able to gauge their level of excellence according to
whether they achieved their set mission and objectives, and on the basis of
accomplishing the targets they have set in their strategic plan, it is still difficult to be
both the provider and the judge of their own services (IIEP-UNESCO, 2011), hence an
external party is required to carry out this task. This is the external quality assurance
(EQA).
The level of excellence is evaluated through quality assessment - which can be done in
a form of Quality Audit or Accreditation. A quality audit is a type of quality
assessment that evaluates the HEIs’ quality assurance measures in order to form basis
for understanding where the HEIs’ quality practices stands, as well as for decision-
making purposes as to what else needs to be done.
Accreditation is a form of quality assessment carried out by an accrediting body which
may be locally or internationally licensed to grant accreditation. Accreditation is a
status granted to HEIs that attest to the degree of quality which is above the
minimum requirements set by the government for academic institutions.
There are two approaches to accreditation - 1) the fit-for-purpose and 2) standards-
based (IIEP-UNESCO, 2011). The fit-for-purpose approach is a form of accreditation
where the HEIs must meet set of criteria based on the purpose they serve. For
example, vocational school would have to meet teaching and learning standards but
may not have to comply with the research standards set for a university. The fit-for-
purpose approach is based on the HEIs’ own set criteria - which may or may not be
internationally or locally benchmarked. Hence, fit-for-purpose does not necessarily
relate to good quality, it simply means that the HEI achieves the purpose which it sets
for itself. Although fit-for-purpose does not necessarily mean “quality” at par with the
local or international standard, it is a good starting point towards accreditation,
because this exercise allows the HEIs to understand their missions and objectives, and
where they stand in terms of their quality assurance practices.
The standard-based approach to accreditation is based on locally or internationally
benchmarked criteria. In this approach, the standards dictate the specifics in order to
get the accreditation. For example, the standard will clearly specify that 80% of the
teaching staff should have doctorate degree, or that the library should have 4,000
books for a certain number of students. Standard-based approach to accreditation
signifies that the HEIs are generally of good quality (but not in any way perfect).
There are two kinds of accreditation - institutional or programmatic. The institutional
accreditation gauges the institutional capabilities to operate according to the type of
institution it seeks to be accredited for - that is, whether the HEIs as a university has
met the requirements that a university should have. A programmatic accreditation
gauges the specific program offered, and whether or not the “standards” for offering
the degree was met. For example, a programmatic accreditation will have to evaluate
whether the HEI is indeed capable to meeting the requirements needed to offer B.Ed.
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in Biology, B.Sc. in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and other programs for
which accreditation is sought.
Since the concept of quality and quality assurance differs from one person to another;
and from one institution to another, defining what quality is for the institution will
help in setting the HEIs’ quality goals and objectives, as well as directions. Also,
understanding the basic terminologies will clarify the purpose for which the HEIs are
designing the quality assurance - whether the purpose is to set internal quality
assurance in preparation for quality audit or accreditation; for institutional or
programmatic; or fit-for-purpose or standards-based approach.

Review of related literature

In a study entitled, “Implementing quality audits in Oman: Lessons learnt”, (Goodliffe

and Razvi, 2011), some of the challenges faced in the Oman accreditation process
included the following:
1. Although peer review is the common practice, it is relatively new for Oman, the
The Oman Academic Accreditation Authority (OAAA, previously OAC) established
register of external reviewers were 40% of the panel are international reviewers
and 60% of reviewers are Omanis. Since the local reviewers are working within a
small academic community, there is the temptation to use their preconceived
ideas of quality;
2. Most of the portfolios submitted (as part of the quality audit process) were
descriptive in nature and were not really honest reflective self-reviews; which
could be due to the unwillingness to divulge all information or simply that the
professionals working in the sector still has to learn the ability to self-reflect;
3. There is a general resistance regarding making the reports public due to cultural
reasons that the public is used to reading articles and reports that only praises
performances of HEIs.
In a study entitled, “Accreditation of undergraduate medical training programs:
Practices in nine developing countries as compared with the United States”, (Cueto et
al., 2006), the Philippines was one of the nine developing countries whose
accreditation system was compared with the U.S.A., and findings of the study showed
that: “accreditation in Malaysia, Mongolia and the Philippines is voluntary. In these
countries powerful incentives to undergo accreditation exist… In the Philippines,
medical institutions that do not meet the required standards cannot avail themselves
of certain accreditation benefits and privileges including special administrative and
financial autonomy, additional curricular flexibility, priority in funding assistance for
scholarships, library materials and laboratory equipment, government subsidies for
faculty development and even grant of charter or full autonomy (Philippine
Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities, 2001).

The Oman and the Philippines accreditation system

The Oman accreditation system

The government colleges in the Sultanate of Oman were established in the 1970s &
1980s. These colleges offered certificates and diploma programs in the national
priorities of health, teaching and technical skills. The Sultan Qaboos University (SQU),
a public institution in Oman, was established in 1986, and the first private institution
was established in the mid 1990’s. As of 2011, there were over sixty public and
private institutions in Oman (Goodliffe and Razvi, 2011).

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In Oman, the sponsoring ministries (i.e. Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of

Manpower) are responsible for the licensing of new institutions and programs. The
supervision is along the lines of compliance model, policy decisions, approval of all
academic staff appointments, and regular visits (Goodliffe and Razvi, 2011). The
Oman Academic Council (OAC) was established in 2001 as an external quality
assurance agency, and the national quality assurance system was developed and
implemented in 2003/2004. The OAC is responsible for accreditation in Oman. It was
established through Royal Decree No.74/2001, then in 2010 another Royal Decree
was issued to change its status and its name was changed to the Oman Authority for
Academic Accreditation (OAAA). The decrees set out a number of responsibilities,
including “Lay (ing) down the procedures for the assessment and review of higher
education institutions”.
The EQA system known as the Requirements for Oman’s System of Quality Assurance
(ROSQA) was implemented by the OAC in 2003/2004. However, by 2006 it was clear
from external reviews and the feedback from the academic sectors that the desired
impact did not take place as the ROSQA was not considered comprehensive and was
insufficiently tailored to the HEIs’ stage of development during that time. A Quality
Audit Manual was written, trainings were conducted and a new standard was drafted
known as the OAAA Institutional Standards - which as of this writing is on its second
draft.
The OAAA process has two stages.
Stage 1: Quality Audit, and Stage 2: Standards Assessment. Quality Audit starts with
a self-assessment (quality assessment) and HEIs submit a quality audit portfolio,
followed by external visit, and results of the review are forwarded to the HEI for
further actions. The summary of the results are categorized into three: 1)
Commendations - a formal commendation recognizes an instance of particularly good
practice; 2) Affirmations - a formal affirmation recognizes an instance in which the HEI
has accurately identified a significant opportunity for improvement and has
demonstrated appropriate commitment to addressing the matter; and 3)
Recommendations - a recommendation draws attention to a significant opportunity
for improvement that the HEI has either not yet accurately identified or to which it is
not yet adequately attending.
There are 9 standards, each with different criterion. The review is conducted by
register of reviewer comprised of 60% Omani and 40% expatriates (Goodliffe and
Razvi, 2011).

TABLE 1. THE OMAN AUTHORITY FOR ACADEMIC ACCREDITATION

(OAAA) INSTITUTIONAL STANDARDS

OAAA STANDARD
1 Governance and Management
2 Student Learning by Coursework Programs
3 Student Learning by Research Programs
4 Staff Research and Consultancy
5 Industry and Community Engagement
6 Academic Support Services
7 Student and Student Support Services
8 Staff and Staff Support Services
9 General Support Services and Facilities
Source: OAAA (2013).

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The Stage 2: Standards Assessment involves a summative assessment of the

institution against national standards. Like quality audit, this involves an internal
process followed by an external review carried out by an independent panel. The
primary differences between ‘standards assessment’ and ‘quality audit’ are: (a) that
the judgments are made against specific external standards rather than an
institution’s own strategic and operational intentions, and (b) the result is summative,
i.e. the HEI will be judged to either have met or haven’t met the standards. If the
standards are met, then the institution will become fully accredited, and the cycle is
continuous every 4 years.
From 2008 to date, at least 90% of the public and private institutions in the Sultanate
of Oman have already completed Stage 1, but only one college is provisionally
accredited in Stage 2.
The OAAA recommends the use of Approach-Deployment-Review-Improvement
(ADRI) as an internal quality assurance system and the fit-for-purpose approach to
accreditation which is a very good step towards understanding where the HEI stands
in terms of its quality assessment. However, due to the fact that the extent of the
sponsoring agencies’ supervision does not include support for developing internal
quality assurance systems, migrating to external quality assurance poses a challenge.
As of AY 2011/2012, there are 47, 465 students enrolled 54 public and private
institutions in Oman (Al Sarmi, 2014).

The Philippines accreditation system

The first accrediting body in the Philippines was established in 1957. This is known as
the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PAASCU).
The Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities - Commission on Accreditation
(PACU-COA) was established in 1973; and the Association of Christian Schools,
Colleges and Universities - Accrediting Agency, Inc. (ASCU-AAI) was established in
1976. These 3 bodies provide accreditation to private institutions.
In 1983, the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities of the
Philippines, Inc. (AACUP) was established; and in 2003, the Association of Local
Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation (ALCUCOA) was formed. These
2 bodies provide accreditation to public colleges and universities.
There are four levels of accreditation in the Philippines (Table 2).

TABLE 2. LEVELS OF ACCREDITATION IN THE PHILIPPINES

STATUS TERM BENEFITS

LEVEL I Initial accreditation for 3 years Full administrative and financial deregulations;
grants and funding assistance
LEVEL II Formal Accreditation for 5 years
LEVEL III Re-accreditation for 5 years All benefits of I/II; curricular deregulation;
privilege to offer distance education and
extension classes
LEVEL IV Re-accreditation for five years All benefits of I/II/III; Full autonomy of the
program.
Source: Pijano, 2010.

The Standards in the Philippines are shown in the Table 3.

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TABLE 3. THE STANDARDS IN THE PHILIPPINES OF THE FOUR ACCREDITING ORGANIZATIONS

ASCU-AAI PAASCU PACU-COA AACUP

1 Purpose and objectives Purpose and Purpose and objectives Mission, goals and
objectives objectives
2 Faculty Faculty Faculty Faculty
3 Instruction Instruction Instruction Curriculum and program
studies
4 Library Library Library Library
5 Laboratories Laboratories Laboratories Physical facilities and
laboratories
6 Physical plant and Physical plant and Physical plant and facilities Physical plant and facilities
facilities facilities
7 Student personnel Student services Student personnel services Students
services
8 Social orientation and Social orientation and Social orientation and Extension and community
community involvement community community involvement
involvement
9 Organization and Administration Organization and Administration
research administration administration
Source: Phelps (2001), Arcelo (2003).

The Philippines accreditation is voluntary in nature and adopts a peer-review

approach where a representative from other HEIs comprises the accreditation
members. The process is a cycle that starts from a self-evaluation, self-survey or self-
assessment done by the HEI; followed by an on-site evaluation conducted by trained
peers; then the decision of the governing board of the accrediting body (PAASCU,
AACUP, etc); and the periodic external review.
The Philippines accreditation serves the following purposes (Reyes, 2014):
1. To identify center of excellence and center of developments for financial support
from the Commission on Higher Education for their flagship projects and programs
2. For autonomy and deregulation status
3. Prestige or peer recognition.
In addition, HEIs which are granted accreditation attract more students (and parents)
since accreditation is considered an affirmation of quality of education. In addition,
degrees awarded from accredited HEIs are recognized nationally and internationally.
The Philippines uses the Planning-Implementation-Review-Improvement as internal
quality assurance system and standard-based, programmatic approach to
accreditation. Since the governing bodies are also members and/or peer reviewers in
the accreditation agencies, they become the source of support for developing internal
quality assurance in their respective HEIs making the move towards external quality
assurance easier.
As of 2010, there are 2,282 private and public institutions in the Philippines and
8,291,282 College Graduates, and an enrollment of 2,689,808 in AY 2013-2014 (NSO,
2014) so that even though accreditation is voluntary in nature, HEIs will opt to
undergo the process due to the many advantages that the status provides - an edge
over competing HEIs in order to attract more students, prestige, autonomy, funding,
and even the permit to offer distance learning/on-line degrees.

Summary, conclusion and recommendations

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Summary

The Oman accreditation process started in 2003/2004 with the EQA system known as
ROSQA, which was later abolished and changed to OAAA Institutional Standards.
There are two stages to the Oman accreditation which is mandatory in nature. The
Oman accreditation is fit-for-purpose, institutional, and adopts Approach-
Deployment-Review-Improvement approach to internal quality assurance, and a
register of reviewers to carry out the assessment.
The first accreditation body in the Philippines, was established in 1957 (PAASCU), and
several other accrediting bodies followed in 1973, 1976, 1983 and 2003. Accreditation
is voluntary in nature, conducted by peers, and there are 4 levels for purposes of
identifying the center of excellence/center of developments for financial grants from
the government, curricular deregulation and autonomy, and prestige. The Philippines
accreditation is standard-based, programmatic, and adopts the Planning-
Implementation-Review-Improvement (PIRI) approach to internal quality assurance,
and a peer review to carry out the assessment.

Conclusion

The systems for internal quality assurance in the Sultanate of Oman and in the
Philippines are similar, the 9 standards pretty much cover the same areas (using
different terminologies), except in the Oman, there are Standard 2: Student by
Coursework Program, and Standard 3: Student by Research Program, and the
Philippines has only Standard 3: Instruction (for AACUP - Curriculum and Program
Studies).
The fit-for-purpose, institutional accreditation is definitely the appropriate approach
for Oman since it is still in its early stage of accreditation, whereas the Philippines,
with an accreditation process that dates more than 50 years, must adopt the more
stringent standard-based approach. The Oman is also still in the process of finalizing
its institutional standards so that programmatic standards will still have to wait
although some HEIs have already successfully acquired international accreditation like
ABET. In the Philippines, evaluation instruments with clear rating scale, for at least 39
different academic programs have already been set by the accreditation body which
makes decisions to grant accreditation status easier.
Quality assurance in Higher Education is a systematic, integrative process that
addresses not only students and curriculum, in most cases (as seen in the standards),
it covers at least 9 areas - and each area has its own criteria. Quality assurance is
managing all aspects of the HEIs’ operation thereby also managing the experiences of
all the stakeholders because “quality” depends on their perspective.
As long as the HEIs are sufficiently guided with developing their own internal quality
assurance system, whether the HEIs use PIRI or ADRI approach will provide good
results because a sound internal quality assurance system will definitely provide a
good level of quality assessment.

Recommendations

1. Understanding the basic quality assurance terminologies and meanings can help
HEIs have clearer understanding of their purpose or objective for setting up
internal quality assurance; it also helps them decide whether the quality
assessment will be designed for quality audit or accreditation.
2. Top-level management is a good source of support for developing internal quality
assurance systems that will pave the way for smooth transition towards preparing
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for external quality assurance (i.e. accreditation) - hence, involvement and training
of the governing bodies is a significant step towards laying down a good
foundation for achieving quality assurance initiatives.
3. Internal quality assurance is an important step towards achieving accreditation or
external quality assurance therefore efforts towards setting up HEIs IQA should be
prioritized.
4. Every person has a pre-conceived notion of quality therefore it is important to
make sure that the people involved in setting the internal quality assurance are
clear regarding the HEIs’ definitions of quality.
5. Self-assessment must be perceived as an honest, self-reflective process in order to
achieve the needed improvement.
6. PIRI or ADRI is a helpful mechanisms but only if the HEIs are sufficiently provided
with the needed support to develop their internal quality assurance.
7. There are different approaches to accreditation that an institution can apply for
but it requires an understanding of their own purpose and the readiness of the
HEIs to adopt the standards.

References

Arcelo, A., 2003. In pursuit of continuing quality in higher education through

accreditation: The Philippine Experience, IIEP, Paris
Al Sarmi, A., 2014. “From one university to 54 higher education institutions: The
experience of Oman in higher education”, available at www.qss.showcase.com
Cueta, J., et.al, 2006. “Accreditation of Undergraduate Medical Training Programs:
Practices in Nine Developing Countries as Compared with the United States”,
Education for Health, Vol. 19, No.2, July 2006, 207-222
Goodliffe, T., and Razvi, S., 2011. “Implementing Quality Audits in Oman: Lessons
Learnt”, ANQAHE conference, 2011, available at: http://www.anqahe.org/
International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP), United Nations Educational
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Modules 1-4, available at:
www.iiep.unesco.org
National Statistics Office, “The Philippines in Figures 2014’, available at
www.census.gov.ph
OAAA, 2013. The Oman Authority for Academic Accreditation Institutional Standards
draft version 2, October 2013, available at oaaa.gov.om
Oxford English Dictionary, 2006. Oxford University Press. Available
at:www.dictionary.oed.com/
Phelps, M., 2001. “Accreditation and the quality assurance system for higher
education”, TA-3500-PHI: Education Sector Development Program, Manila: Asian
Development Bank, World Bank
Pijano, Concepcion V., 2010. “Quality Assurance and Accreditation: The Philippine
Experience”, Japan-ASEAN Information Package Seminar, 3 September 2010, Japan
Reyes, A.L., 2014. “Medical School Accreditation in the Philippines: Making a
difference”, 2014 Association for Medical Education in the Western Pacific Region
Annual Meeting, National Academy for Educational Research Taipei, Taiwan,
R.O.C.

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