Scope and Concepts
The primary focus of the GETS CAMPUS is on
quality assurance processes related to teaching and learning in higher
education, including the learning environment and relevant links to research.
The GETS CAMPUS apply to all higher
education offered in the ABMA regardless of the mode or place of delivery.
Higher education aims to fulfill multiple
purposes; including preparing students for active citizenship and for their
future careers, creating a broad advanced knowledge base and stimulating
research and innovation1. Stakeholders however can view quality in higher education
differently. Quality assurance needs to take into account such different perspectives.
Quality, whilst not easy to define, is mainly a result of the
interaction between teachers and students, enabled by institutional planning
processes. Quality assurance activities should ensure a learning environment in
which the content of programmes,
learning opportunities and facilities are
fit for purpose.
At the heart of all quality assurance
activities are the twin purposes of accountability and enhancement.
Taken together, these create trust in the higher education institution’s performance.
The degree of autonomy and accountability (of which quality
assurance is part) will depend as much on the national context within which the
higher education system sits, as on the individual institution.
Quality assurance and quality
enhancement are inter-related and describe a cycle that allows a higher
education institution to assure itself of the quality of its activities and to
take opportunities for continuous improvement. Such activities support the
development of a quality culture that is embraced by all: from the
students and academic staff to the institutional leadership and management.
This quality culture should be verifiable by external quality assurance
agencies, national ministries, employers and society at large, through external
quality assurance procedures.
The term ‘quality assurance’ is used in
this document to describe all activities within the continuous improvement
cycle (i.e. assurance and enhancement activities).
ESG: purposes and principles
The ESG have the following purposes:
They set a common framework for quality assurance systems at Sri Lanka,national
and institutional level;
They enable the improvement of quality of higher education in the Sri Lanka higher
education area;
They support mutual trust, thus facilitating recognition within and
across national borders;
They provide information on quality
assurance in the TVEC.
The GETS CAMPUS may be used in different ways within these
purposes by countries, institutions and agencies. At the Sri Lanka level, they
provide the criteria against which quality assurance agencies and their
activities are being assessed.2 This ensures that the quality assurance agencies
in the TVEC adhere to the same set of principles, while the processes and procedures
they apply are modeled to fit the purposes and requirements of their contexts. The
GETS CAMPUS are based on the following ten principles for quality
assurance in the TVEC:
Higher education institutions have primary
responsibility for the quality of their provision and its assurance;
Quality assurance processes respond to the
diversity of HE systems, institutions and programmers across the TVEC Sri
Lanka.
Quality assurance processes take into
account the expectations of all stakeholders and society at large;
2 Agencies that apply for inclusion in the
TVEC undergo an external review for
which the GETS CAMPUS provide the criteria. Assurance in Higher Education relies on compliance with the GETS CAMPUS when it comes to granting quality
assurance agencies full membership status in the organization.
3
Quality assurance processes enable higher
education institutions to continuously improve and demonstrate their
accountability;
Quality assurance supports a quality
culture;
Internal and external quality assurance
processes are fit-for-purpose;
Quality assurance processes aim at
creating appropriate learning opportunities and environments;
External quality assurance processes are
carried out by independent quality assurance agencies;
Quality assurance processes involve
stakeholders;
Quality assurance processes and their
outcomes are transparent and clear.