Abstract:

In recent years, the context of austerity and diminishing government funding to public higher education institutions in many countries has led to the fact that matters of education quality and related concepts such as quality assessment, quality assurance and quality improvement to become a priority concern in many countries. In South Africa, it is the Council on Higher Education (CHE) which has the statutory responsibility for quality assurance and quality promotion in Higher Education. This responsibility is exercised through the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC). Apart from official or externally mandated quality assessment initiatives, there are also some independent initiatives which are particularly useful because participation is voluntary and there are no sanctions or coercion. This paper presents the findings of such an independent nationwide survey conducted in four provinces of South Africa. It provides a lecturer's perspective on the improvement teacher education in South Africa. Statistical data analysed focus on lecturers' opinion on self-assessment and peer assessment of their teaching. The paper then presents lecturers' opinion on various performance indicators. Finally, the paper reflects on the following key questions: In what conditions can quality teaching and learning thrive? What specific steps should be taken to improve quality education in a specific institution?  

Keywords:

Quality, Teacher Education, Lecturer, South Africa.