Re-designing the Lesotho Higher Education Accreditation instrument for colleges

Abstract

Quality assurance and accreditation frameworks in higher education face scrutiny for their inability to accommodate the diverse needs of stakeholders due to a one-size-fits-all approach. African frameworks additionally struggle to balance practicality, comprehensiveness, and relevance. Lesotho's stakeholder-driven approach, although commendable, is supported by minimal research and does not adequately accommodate the unique position of colleges. Through an evaluation of stakeholders' experiences, this study adapted an existing accreditation instrument and contextualised it to the Lesotho resource-constrained colleges' environment. Stufflebeam's CIPP Model, due to its flexibility and comprehensive nature, accommodated multiple perspectives, qualitative methods, and triangulation procedures, enabling the interpretation of varied information. Following a constructivist paradigm, a multiple-case study design was used involving three colleges and the Council on Higher Education (CHE). Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were employed to select colleges and participants. The sample included a CHE accreditation officer, two members of management, a quality assurance officer and four to five academic and administrative staff from each college. Phase one of the study focused on evaluating stakeholders' experiences, and phase two on redesigning, validating and peer-reviewing the accreditation instrument. Data were collected through focus groups and semi-structured interviews. The research highlights the significance of quality assurance in fostering a quality culture. This study underscores the roles of accreditation in meeting standards, and in supporting accountability, compliance and improvement. Making accreditation relevant, evidence-based and transformative is essential for particular contexts, as in this case with colleges. Most importantly, participants indicated that the primary goal of accreditation should be to transform student learning. The study contributes to filling the gap in Lesotho’s limited research output, particularly on quality assurance in colleges. It illustrates the contextualisation of accreditation standards in resource-constrained environments and showcases initiatives that can strengthen internal systems. Moreover, to address emerging trends such as online and e-learning, the instrument's modular approach lays the foundation for Lesotho to review its systems and frameworks.