Quality Assurance in the Arab Region in the Era of Customization: Where Do We Stand in Terms of Relevance?

Abstract

A major paradigm shift from standardization to the customization era has posed a whole range of challenges in terms of relevance of higher-education (HE) in general and that of quality assurance, in particular. With everlasting changes, the role of quality assurance (QA) in HE is rapidly expanding to move from its initial purpose of ensuring credibility and trust to also ensure relevance of HE provisions and, most recently, the issues of recognition of the HE outcomes and outputs. On top of considering the diversity of needs resulting from globalization and the ICT revolution, to be a success, the needs of a specific system should be considered at a diversity of levels, including but not limited to subject-specific, institutional, system-wide, national and regional levels to name but a few. To ensure the HE systems are relevant and cover the diversity of provisions in the increasingly customized environment, multiple and diverse measurement tools need to link and lead to the solution of a range of system needs.

The article takes a stock of the last decades of developments in the HE and QA provisions in the Arab region through a critical reflection on the relevance of those provisions to the diverse socio-economic needs. It also endeavors to critically analyze the existing QA systems in the Arab region in terms of international comparability and national suitability. Overall, the HE system in the region is characterized as booming in terms of diversification, including transnational provisions as the major trend. On the other hand, the QA systems seem to be successfully completing their establishment phase and are currently in a transition to revise and introduce a more customized system to coherently link the QA mechanisms with the set priorities at a diversity of levels. One of the major findings in terms of relevance is the further need to link the national qualifications frameworks in the region with respective QA tools to promote relevance and ultimate recognition of the qualifications offered nationally, regionally, and internationally. To promote relevance and recognition, a need to move from input- and process-based mechanisms to more outcome-based approaches seems to be tangible. Recognition of external QA systems against robust international criteria needs to lead the priority list on the agenda of governments if outcomes of the QA are to lead to international recognition of the HE systems and awarded qualifications, in particular.