IJRESS

Volume 2, Issue 2 (February 2012)

(ISSN 2249-7382)

QUALITY ASSURANCE IN TECHNICAL EDUCATION INSTITUTE

Dr.Babita G. Kataria* Dr. Sangeeta Gupta** Dr. Renu Viz***

ABSTRACT
Quality of technical education and the need for effective quality assurance mechanisms beyond those of institutions themselves are becoming priority themes in national strategies for technical education. This review based paper on quality assurance in technical education institutes examine the concept of quality, and the different perceptions about quality, particularly as it applies to technical education as well as quality assurance system in technical education institutes. Key Words: Technical Education, Quality Assurance, Quality Assurance system.

*Research Scholar, USMS, IPU babita kataria **Director, OITM, Hisar, ***Assistant professor, Badi University of Emerging Science & Technology International Journal of Research in Economics & Social Sciences http://www.euroasiapub.org 399

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Volume 2, Issue 2 (February 2012)

(ISSN 2249-7382)

INTRODUCTION

Undoubtedly education and health sector are two key areas important for a sustainable development of a country or an individual. Education however has a wider perspective in sense that it transfers from generation to generation. Its importance lies in that fact that each individual contributes to the economy depending upon his talents and skills, gained from years of learning. The technical education institutions themselves are changing their approaches to the design and delivery of education. They are building partnerships with corporations, developing regional and international consortia, or joining multi-agency partnerships to provide quality education. This paper examines the concept of quality, and the status of quality assurance system in technical education providers.

2.

RESEARCH PROBLEM

Traditionally Quality assurance is an important aspect in manufacturing sector. In the era of globalization, privatization quality assurance issues are also arising at the institutional level and involve legal, technical and academic dimensions. For example, institutions need to establish clear conventions and memoranda of agreement between the potentially different parties involved in creating and delivering technical education programmes. Institutions must be clear about who the responsible agents are for each part of the educational process and how accountability will be achieved. They must indicate how students, as consumers of education, will be protected and how they can gain redress in the event of technical or academic problems, particularly those that arise in other jurisdictions. Technical issues involve the inter-operability of different ICT systems as well as levels of technical support for staff and students. Academic and educational quality issues include the ways in which and the terms on which curricula are approved and reviewed, how student learning and progression is mapped, tracked and recorded and how quality is measured across different educational cultures.

3.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Technical education teaches specific skills directed toward a specific type of work, for example, carpentry, automotive maintenance, welding, or computer network administration. (Wikipedia) The goal of technical education is to prepare graduates for occupations that are classified above the skilled crafts but below the scientific or engineering professions.

(Encyclopedia2.freedicitionary) International Journal of Research in Economics & Social Sciences http://www.euroasiapub.org 400

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Volume 2, Issue 2 (February 2012)

(ISSN 2249-7382)

Quality is a function of competencies in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes, capacity and competition vis-a-vis needs. (Goel and Biswal, 1996) Resultant from the system that produced it, and is an attribute of that system as much as of the product itself of its processes, its people and the way they work together. (Holt, 1998) Efficiency in meeting the set goals, relevance to human and environmental needs and conditions and "something more" in relation to the pursuit of excellence and human betterment.. (Rajput and Walia, 1997) The US National Science Foundation defined Quality technical/engineering Education is the development of intellectual skills and knowledge that will equip graduates to contribute to society through productive and satisfying engineering careers as innovators, decision-makers and leaders in the global economy of the twenty-first century. (R. Natrajan, 2000) As in manufacturing and service industries quality is the hallmark of excellence and effectiveness in engineering education. Every engineering college and polytechnic should define their quality policy and articulate their commitment to achieve quality in all their activities and implement the policies energetically. (R. Natrajan, 2000) Quality assurance is a process-driven approach with specific steps to help define and attain goals. This process considers design, development, production, and service. The most popular tool used to determine quality assurance is the Shewhart Cycle, developed by Dr. W. Edwards Deming. This cycle for quality assurance consists of four steps: Plan, Do, Check, and Act. These steps are commonly abbreviated as PDCA An Internal Quality Assurance system is a system under which students, staff and management satisfy themselves that control mechanisms are working to maintain and enhance the quality. (R. S. Mani and Uma Devi, 2009) The quality assurance strategies that are appropriate for virtual education share common features with other forms of media, but there are also differences. The range and flexibility of

information and communications technologies create new opportunities, but also give rise to complexities and challenges for governments, agencies, institutions and faculty.(Robin Middlehurst, 2001) QA handbook (2004) provides 10 tips for quality assurance for digital library such as document your policies, ensure your technical infrastructure is capable of implementing your policies, ensure that you have the resources necessary to implement your policies,implement systematic International Journal of Research in Economics & Social Sciences http://www.euroasiapub.org 401

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Volume 2, Issue 2 (February 2012)

(ISSN 2249-7382)

checking procedures to ensure your policies are being implemented,keep audit trails, learn from others, share your experiences,seek fitness for purpose not perfection, remember that QA is for you to implement , seek to deploy QA procedures more extensively. (QA Focus team, 2004) Education Committee of Oxford University (2008) focuses on twelve major areas of quality assurance or quality enhancement such as admissions, induction, course design: approval, monitoring
and review, student feedback, student complaints and appeals, statistical information, external input, quality enhancement in learning and teaching, monitoring of teaching, postgraduate research degrees, collaborative provision and placement learning that the Education Committee and the divisions

(drawing on national guidance and expectations) see as being of major importance to any faculty/department in maintaining appropriate oversight of their existing arrangements. (Education Committee of Oxford University 2008) Educational institutions including the national Open University should be ethically and legally stopped from running courses and programmes in which they do not have core faculty. The use of teachers as academic managers and hiring of part time consultants has been helping many to generate resources, but quality is definitely being compromised. In open and distance learning system, the mechanism of quality assurance in India should include recognition and accreditation, institutional and programme assessment, process as well as product assessment, voluntary and mandatory approach; and yes/no type accreditation followed by qualitative grading (if yes). The mechanism should be developed through a consensus approach after due deliberations at the national level. (Sanjaya Mishra, 2007) P. Venkataram & Anandi Giridharan has proposed Technical Educational Quality Assurance and Assessment (TEQ-AA) system that uses mobile agents to access the web pages of the technical institutions or colleges and collect relevant quality measurement information. The collected information is analyzed and Standard deducted into the qualitative facts of the institution,

Measurement by using (RARM) Realistic Abductive Reasoning Model.( P.

Venkataram & Anandi Giridharan (2007), Quality Assurance and Assessment in Technical Education System: A Web Based Approach, in International Conference on Engineering Education ICEE 2007, organized at Coimbra, Portugal ) quality assurance can be achieved through accreditation of the institutes, periodically running faculty Development programs, research and institutional development. But there are lots of challenges such as inequity in the number of diploma level institutions vs degree, Absence of International Journal of Research in Economics & Social Sciences http://www.euroasiapub.org 402

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Volume 2, Issue 2 (February 2012)

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vertical mobility for ITI to Doctoral levels, Availability of quality and competent faculty, Number of PhDs in TE, Outcome based accreditation criteria, Flexible learning, Transnational education and distance learning/virtual universities etc. before the institution to go for quality assurance. (Prasad Krishna 2009)

4.

CONCLUSION

This review based paper on quality assurance in technical education institutes examine the concept of quality, and the different perceptions about quality, particularly as it applies to technical education as well as quality assurance system in technical education institutes. After going through the existing research available, it is conclude that there is long way to assure quality in technical education institutions in India. For quality assurance there should be consensus between the Government, management of technical education institutes, faculty and students.

5.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Technology Education [n. d. Online] Wikipedia Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_education [Accessed 10 June 2010]. 2. Technical Education [n.d. Online] encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/technical+education 2010]. 3. Goel, D.R. and Biswal, Ashutosh (1996) TQM in Education: Reality, Desirability and Feasibility, University News, Oct. 28, Vol. XXXI, No. 44. 4. Holt, Maurice (1998), The concept of Quality in Education in Quality in Education Falmer Press, U.S.A. 5. Rajput, J.S. and Walia, K. (1997), Quality in Higher Education, Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 20, No. 4, winter, pp. 553-567. 6. R. Natrajan, (2000), The Role Of Accreditation in Promoting Quality Assurance Of Technical Education, Int . J . E n g n g E d . Vo l. 1 6 , No . 2 , Gr ea t B ri t a i n, p p . 8 5 - 9 6 [online] Available: www.ijee.dit.ie/articles/Vol16-2/Ijee1155.pdf [Accessed 12 June 2010]. 7. R. Natrajan, (2000), The Role Of Accreditation in Promoting Quality Assurance Of Technical Education, Int . J . E n g n g E d . Vo l. 1 6 , No . 2 , Gr ea t B ri t a i n, p p . International Journal of Research in Economics & Social Sciences http://www.euroasiapub.org 403 [Accessed Available: 10 June

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Volume 2, Issue 2 (February 2012)

(ISSN 2249-7382)

8 5 - 9 6 [online] Available: www.ijee.dit.ie/articles/Vol16-2/Ijee1155.pdf [Accessed 12 June 2010]. 8. Quality Assurance [n. d. online] wisegeek Available: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-quality-assurance.htm [Accessed 15 June 2010]. 9. R. S. Mani and Uma Devi, (2009), Quality Assurance in Education through Quality Circles Global and Indian Context [online] , Academic Leadership : The Online Journal, Volume 7 - Issue 4 Available:www. academicleadership.org [Accessed 15 June 2010]. 10. Robin Middlehurst,(2001), QUALITY ASSURANCE AND ACCREDITATION FOR VIRTUAL EDUCATION: A discussion of models and needs [online] ineer.org Available: http://www.ineer.org/Events/ICEE2007/papers/241.pdf [Accessed 15 June 2010]. 11. QA Focus team, (2004), About Quality Assurance, QA handbook, vol. 1.0, UKOLN [online] Availble: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/documents/handbook/qa-handbookqa.doc [Accessed 15 June 2010]. 12. EDUCATION COMMITTEE (2008), [online] Quality Assurance Handbook Available: http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/epsc/handbook/ [Accessed 15 June 2010]. 13. Sanjaya Mishra, (2007), "Towards A Quality Assurance Mechanism For Distance Education: Need For Clarity And Consensus" [online] blogspot Available:

http://teachknowlogist.blogspot.com/2007/04/quality-assurance-in-distanceeducation.html [Accessed 16 June 2010]. 14. P. Venkataram & Anandi Giridharan, (2007), Quality Assurance and Assessment in Technical Education System: A Web Based Approach, in International Conference on Engineering Education ICEE 2007, organized at Coimbra, Portugal. 15. Prasad Krishna (2009), Maintenance of Quality and Standards of Professionals in Technical and Management Education [online] ukieri Available: http://www.ukieri.org/docs/Hyderabad%20Presentations/Quality%20Assurance%20of%2 0Technical%20Education%20in%20India%20_Prasad%20Krishna.pps#3 [Accessed 16 June 2010]. International Journal of Research in Economics & Social Sciences http://www.euroasiapub.org 404

IJRESS HYPOTHESIS:

Volume 2, Issue 2 (February 2012)

(ISSN 2249-7382)

H1= There is no internal quality assurance system in technical education institution. H2= Employability of students is not dependent on quality measures adopted by technical education institution.

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