Perceived Politics of Programme Accreditation: Implications for Effective Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Nigeria

Abstract

The overall goal of higher institution is to provide quality education that would help the students build new skills and shape their careers for good. And to ensure that this goal of higher education among others is maximally achieved, there is need to emphasize on quality rather than just quantity. One of the first measures of ensuring quality in higher education is through accreditation process by the various regulatory bodies of higher education-National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NABTE) and National Council for Colleges of Education (NCCE).In carrying out programme accreditation in higher education, the process is not devoid of politics, which has the tendency of affecting credibility of the exercise. Therefore, this work is titled: perceived politics of programme accreditation: Implications for effective quality assurance in higher education in Nigeria. For proper organization, this work was divided into different segments. First, the concept of accreditation was extensively discussed; thereby highlighting its types and processes. This was followed by establishing the connect between programme accreditation and quality in higher education. Also discussed were the constructs-politics and politics of programme; giving detail explanations of practices that constitute politics of programme accreditation in higher education. The implications of politics of programme accreditation to higher education were also examined herein. Finally, conclusion and recommendations were offered too.