Equity issues in quality assurance in South African higher education

Lange, Lis and Singh, Mala (2010). Equity issues in quality assurance in South African higher education. In: Martin, Michaela ed. Equity and Quality Assurance: A Marriage of Two Minds. New Trends in Higher Education. Paris: International Institute for Educational Planning, UNESCO, pp. 37–74.

URL: http://www.iiep.unesco.org/en/information-services...

Abstract

This paper outlines the ways in which the quality assurance system developed by the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) of the Council on Higher Education conceptualizes and takes into account issues of equity in South African higher education. The paper takes as its point of departure the historical roots of equity in South African higher education. It points out the challenges that the legacy of apartheid poses to the achievement of equity of outcomes in higher education and the ways in which policy making has tackled different dimensions of equity. Against this backdrop, the paper analyses the frameworks, systems, and approaches developed by the HEQC in order to link equity and quality. The paper concludes with a number of reflections regarding the difficulties of including issues of social justice in the design of a quality assurance system in a manner that is intellectually credible and methodologically practicable.

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