This paper discusses the roles of lecturers in improving quality of university education in Zimbabwe. The paper contends that continuous and holistic improvement in university education system requires the collaborative efforts of various stakeholders both internal and external with focus on the role of lecturers.

1. Quality Standards and
Enhancement in Zimbabwean
Universities; The Role of
Lecturers
By
Odunze Daisy Ifeoma
National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe.
Post-graduate Diploma in Higher Education
October 2019

2. ABSTRACT
This paper discusses the roles of lecturers in improving quality of university education in
Zimbabwe. The paper contends that continuous and holistic improvement in university education
system requires the collaborative efforts of various stakeholders both internal and external. The
writer argues that quality can only be attained in university education through cost sharing among
stakeholders such as government, universities and public/private sector. University administrators
and university board management committee could ensure continuous improvement in university
education system by ensuring constant training and retraining of teachers and other staff through
professional development programmes of high quality. In this way, excellence and high standards
is attainable in university education systems in the country.
KEYWORDS
Collaboration, University education, Lecturers, Improvement, Quality Assurance
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Managing and ensuring educational quality is one of the key responsibilities of educational
institutions and of those who work for them. Demands from external agencies define part of what
is good practice, and these demands combine with discipline-based practices and institutional
culture and requirements to set the context for lecturers. This assignment provides a synopsis of
quality and standards in higher education from a Zimbabwean perspective. The intention is to
provide a context within which lecturers can develop their understanding of quality issues in higher
education and consider their roles and obligations in relation to maintaining and enhancing quality
and standards.
1.2 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS
The terms ‘quality’ and ‘standards have been given varied definitions based on the aims and
purposes of the educational provision or country and historical context. Quality is a broader term
used with variable meanings, referring, for example, to individual student performance, the outputs
of an educational programme, the student learning experience or the teaching provided. The
concept of quality can be subdivided into several categories or types, as Harvey et al. (1992)
demonstrate, including:

3. • Quality as excellence is the traditional (often implicit) academic view which aims to
demonstrate high academic standards.
• Quality as ‘zero errors’ is most relevant in mass industry where detailed product
specifications can be established and standardised measurements of uniform products can
show conformity to them. In HE this may apply to learning materials.
• Quality as ‘fitness for purpose’ focuses on ‘customers’ (or stakeholders’) needs’ (e.g.
students, employers, the academic community, government as representative of society at
large). The quality literature highlights that operational definitions of quality must be
specific and relate to a specific purpose. There is no ‘general quality’.
• Quality as enhancement emphasizes continuous improvement, centers on the idea that
achieving quality is essential to HE and stresses the responsibility of HE to make the best
use of institutional autonomy and teachers’ academic freedom.
• Quality as transformation applies to students’ behavior and goals being changed as a result
of their studies or to socio-political transformation achieved through, HE. The latter is more
difficult to measure.
• Quality as threshold defines minimum standards, usually as broad definitions of desired
knowledge, skills and attitudes of graduates (e.g. subject benchmarking; see below). HEIs
are usually expected to surpass these minimum standards.
Academic Standard: Academic standard is described as ‘the level of achievement that a student
has to reach to gain an academic award’ (Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) 2007).
Academic quality: is defined as how well the learning opportunities available to students help
them to achieve their award’ (QAA, 2007). ‘Learning opportunities’ include the provision of
teaching, study support, assessment and other aspects and activities that support the learning
process.
Quality assurance: Quality assurance (QA) refers to the policies, processes and actions through
which quality is maintained and developed. Accountability and enhancement are important
motives for quality assurance. Accountability in this context refers to assuring students, society
and government that quality is well managed, and is often the primary focus of external review.
QA is not new in higher education; for example, the involvement of external examiners in
assessment processes, and the peer review system for evaluating research publications, are well

4. established QA processes. Evaluation is a key part of quality assurance. Quality enhancement
refers to the improvement of quality (e.g. through dissemination of good practice or use of a
continuous improvement cycle).
Accreditation: Accreditation grants recognition that provision meets certain standards and may in
some instances confer a license to operate. The status may have consequences for the institution
itself and/or its students (e.g. eligibility for grants) and/or its graduates (e.g. making them qualified
for certain employment).
Performance indicators: Performance indicators (PIs) are a numerical measure of outputs of a
system or institution in terms of the organization’s goals (e.g. increasing employability of
graduates, minimizing drop-out) or educational processes (e.g. maximizing student satisfaction,
minimizing cancelled lectures). In developing PIs, there needs to be a balance between
measurability (reliability), which is often the prime consideration in developing indicators, and
relevance (validity). Indicators are signals that highlight strengths, trends and weaknesses, not
quality judgements in themselves.
1.3 BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Zimbabwe higher education stakeholders are greatly concerned about the quality of education
provided the citizens of the country. Concerns about the quality of education students receive from
universities, the quality of lecturers (teaching staff) employed to teach students, the quality of
infrastructures and instructional facilities have always been of upmost interest. The Zimbabwean
higher education sector has undergone a lot of change in the past decades following growth in the
number of state and private universities and institutes of higher learning. Additionally, increase in
the number of courses and areas of specialization also promoted change in the regulations and
quality management of higher education institutes in order to ensure that that graduates are
efficiently equipped with the needed knowledge. All of these brought about an increase in the
recruitment of lecturers in Zimbabwean universities over the years, many of whom are young and
inexperienced.
Researchers have linked quality in higher education with student intake, academic programs,
program designs, lecturers, teaching and learning, students’ experiences and academics as well as
non-academic support for the students (Baird, 2006; Fry, 1995; Nordvall and Braxton, 1996). Baird

5. (2006) maintains that quality in higher education relates to development of intellectual
independence. He recommended collaborative action research for improving quality, stressing that
institutions of higher learning must take the lead in fostering improvement in quality of education
at all levels. The quality of knowledge which is generated in institutions of higher learning is
critical to national competitiveness (Asiyai, 2014).
The Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education (ZIMCHE) is a quality assurance agency with a
mandate to promote and coordinate education provided by institutions of higher learning in
Zimbabwe and to act as a regulator. ZIMCHE recently started working on standardizing degrees
offered by all universities across Zimbabwe including private universities to ensure uniformity as
well as matching international standards. ZIMCHE developed a qualification framework which
was introduced as a statutory instrument in 2018. The aim was for the country’s higher education
sector to meet international standards and to improve the universities and colleges rankings.
ZIMCHE accredits higher institutions of learning to offer courses in different fields. Universities
or higher institutes of learning who do not comply to the qualifications framework risk not being
accredited to offer degree programmes. ZIMNCHE also promulgated the promotions framework
for universities stating minimum requirements for one to be a lecturer, senior lecturer and
professor. The current quality agenda of ZIMCHE aims to reduce external scrutiny and
bureaucracy and to increase institutional autonomy and self-regulation, seeking to emphasize
enhancement rather than inspection. The quality agenda is like a ‘jigsaw’ comprising
interdependent and interlocking processes that emphasize increasing transparency, accountability
and specification.
1.4 DISCUSSION
1.4.1 Internal Quality Processes
Higher education institutions in Zimbabwe are responsible for the standards and quality of their
provision and each has its own internal procedures for assuring and enhancing the quality of its
programmes. There are ten major areas that must be catered to for the assurance of academic
quality and standards in Zimbabwe and they are;
1. Postgraduate research programmes
2. Collaborative provision

6. 3. Students with disabilities
4. External examining
5. Academic appeals and student complaints
6. Assessment of students
7. Programme approval, monitoring and review
8. Career education, information and guidance
9. Placement learning
10. Student recruitment and admissions
Educational quality is everyone’s responsibility. At institutional level, arrangements must be set
in place for the formal management of quality and standards in accordance with the national
agenda. All institutions have a formal committee structure, part of whose function it is to manage
and monitor quality, including external examining. This is supported by an administrative function.
Structures and processes vary between institutions, but they should enable issues concerning
educational quality to be identified and addressed in a timely and appropriate way. Clear
mechanisms for the approval of new programmes, a regular system of programme reviews and a
means of enabling feedback (from students, staff, employers and external reviewers) to be
considered should be in place. Additional formal mechanisms usually operate at faculty and
departmental level in order to enable the consideration of more detailed issues and to quickly
address concerns. Committees (such as teaching and learning committees) include representatives
from programmes. They act to promulgate, interpret and implement organizational strategy,
policies and procedures; to develop and implement procedures for managing the monitoring and
review of faculty/departmental programmes and procedures; and to respond to demands from
review, accreditation or inspection bodies.
It is at programme level that the individual lecturers are mainly involved in ensuring the quality of
provision. All those who teach need to understand the purposes and context of the programmes on
offer, and to be aware of the elements that comprise a ‘quality’ learning experience for students.
Lecturers also need to be familiar with and understand the use of programme specifications, levels,
benchmarking and internal audit requirements. Lecturers are required to participate in formal
monitoring and review of activities relating to learning and the learning environment. These
include procedures such as ensuring that evaluation feedback and student assessment results are

7. collected and analyzed or that course materials are distributed in a timely fashion. Delivering a
good ‘student learning experience’ requires a high level of competence in and understanding of
teaching and learning in higher education and the development of reflective practice and peer
review of teaching.
1.4.2`The Role of Lecturers in Improving Quality University Education in Zimbabwe
The lecturers are the teaching or academic staff of universities. The lecturer’s role is pivotal in the
improvement of quality of teaching and learning in universities. Lecturers are frontline producers
of university education in Zimbabwe. The lecturer is a pace setter who sets plans aimed at ensuring
students’ effective learning by devising learning experiences which arouse students’ interest and
inspire them to work diligently so as to become creative problem solvers. All over the world, the
teacher is recognized as a major factor in implementing educational reform efforts aimed at
improving the quality of education. Teachers are the most significant change agent in educational
reform (Villegas-Reimers, 2003). Teachers are key players in the process of educational change
and school improvement, who not only deliver the curriculum, but are engaged in defining and
interpreting curriculum. The lecturer’s classroom practices can help to ignite the interest of
students and inculcate in them, positive attitude towards their studies. The lecturer is a professional
in a given discipline, an instructional expert who plans, guides, and evaluates students’ learning.
The lecturer’s role in improving the quality of university education is that of a manager charged
with the provision of stimulating and conducive learning environment for students’ productive
learning as well as ensuring effective classroom management during lectures. Lecturers must
ensure that they provide good teaching and be supportive of students’ problem. They should
improve students’ transferable skills to enhance their chances of employment.
According to Ramsden (1991) good teaching involves giving clear explanation through interesting
lessons and providing useful and timely feedback. As rightly observed by Dembele, (2005), unless
teachers provide effective instruction and create classroom environment conducive to learning,
students will not achieve at high levels even when essential material inputs are available, and
curriculum is relevant. Lecturers are critical to quality improvement in universities and their sense
of ownership is important in order to ensure quality teaching and learning. High quality staff, better
teacher incentives, relevant curriculum and decentralized decision-making involving lecturers
would help to facilitate improvement in university education systems in Zimbabwe. Describing a

8. holistic model for assuring quality in higher education, Srikanthan and Dalrymple (2003) upholds
that learning is based on dynamic engagement between students and teachers especially about the
nature, scope and styles of their learning and hence they recommended transformation by shifting
attention from teaching to learning. According to Kettunen and Kantola (2007), the sense of
responsibility and high level of engagement between students and lecturers makes quality
assurance effective.
Lecturer commitment is one of the quality values in congruence among higher education
stakeholders (Telford and Masson, 2005). The lecturer can also help in the improvement of
university education through involvement in collaborative action research with employers of
labour. Such research must have bearing with the needs of students and the society.
To improve the quality of teaching and learning in universities in Zimbabwe, the lecturer’s roles
should include:
• Adopting a good work ethics and habit
• Encouraging teamwork, innovation and creativity among students
• Provision of guidance to students in their learning
• Ensuring effective classroom management and control during instruction
• Creating positive leaning environment or climate so that students can actively be involved
in learning process to ensure in them, a permanent change in desirable behaviour
• Promoting a classroom atmosphere that motivates self-directed and cooperative learning
• Ensuring that they attend their lectures regularly and timely
• Ensuring that lectures are student-centered
• Teaching effectively, using active learning strategies
• Avoiding unethical conducts such as plagiarism, poor teaching, aiding examination
malpractice and missing students’ scores
• Conducting researches that can help improve instructional practices
• Monitoring and evaluating students learning
The learning environment is positive when it is favorable for students’ meaningful and productive
learning. In such an environment quality education is attained.

9. 1.5 CONCLUSION
Assuring and enhancing educational quality and academic standards can be seen as complex and
multifaceted activities, geared towards ensuring that Zimbabwe higher education and graduates
compete successfully in a global market. But at the centre of these wide- ranging activities are the
individual learner and lecturer and what happens in their classroom and programmes. It is often
hard to maintain a balance between ‘quality as inspection’ and ‘quality as enhancement’ and
between ‘requirements’ and what makes good sense in terms of effective teaching practices. This
paper maintains that improving the quality of university education in Zimbabwe, much sacrifice
is required from the academic staff, in collaboration with other internal stakeholders such as the
non-academic staff, university administrators, deans of faculties, directors of institutes, heads of
departments, senators and board of council. To facilitate improvement in university education,
government of Zimbabwe should come up with a policy on how to improve the quality of
university education through active participation in funding and physical facilities development in
Zimbabwean universities.
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