MTHE Hosts National Engagement on Quality Assurance for University Administration.

Ministry of Technical and Higher Education convened a high-level national engagement on Institutional Management for Quality Assurance in University Administration. Held at Freetown Polytechnic's Jui Campus, the gathering assembled university administrators, quality assurance officers, and key regulatory stakeholders, including the Deputy Minister, Chief Technical and Higher Education Officer, ministry directors, and university registrars.

Deputy Minister Sarjoh Aziz-Kamara addressed participants, emphasizing quality assurance as fundamental to educational transformation. He urged public universities to accelerate digital adoption and align academic programs with international standards. The Deputy Minister highlighted ongoing government reforms, including the 2025 Tertiary Education Commission Act, the National Technical and Vocational Education Act, the Dual Apprenticeship Policy, and ongoing revisions to the Education Act 2021. He issued a firm directive requiring all public universities to submit comprehensive student and program data dating back to 2018, warning that non-compliance will attract sanctions.

Dr. Josephus Brimah, Chief Technical and Higher Education Officer, underscored quality education as indispensable to national development. He announced ongoing efforts to unify national qualifications frameworks for higher and technical education, alongside policies governing credit accumulation, transfer systems, and recognition of prior learning. Dr. Brimah called for improved data management and widespread adoption of digital systems to strengthen institutional planning. He urged lecturers to uphold professionalism, integrity, and commitment to continuous learning.

Freetown Polytechnic Principal, Dr. Samba Moriba, stressed the importance of sustained monitoring and evaluation across higher education institutions. He identified critical assessment areas including curricula relevance, staff performance, student satisfaction, and administrative service delivery. Dr. Moriba emphasized that robust internal and external quality assurance processes remain vital to elevating academic standards and overall institutional performance.

MTHE's Director of Higher Education, Emmanuel J. Momoh, delivered a presentation on Quality Assurance Obligations, emphasizing strict adherence to the Universities Act of 2021 and national quality assurance standards. He warned that safeguarding academic integrity and public trust requires unwavering compliance. Mr. Momoh urged universities to operate within legal frameworks, protect core academic functions encompassing teaching, research, examinations, and community service, and cautioned against offering unaccredited programs. He identified several challenges undermining academic standards:

The Ministry has identified critical challenges threatening academic standards, including a severe shortage of PhD-qualified staff leading to excessive reliance on part-time lecturers, severely overcrowded lecture halls that compromise learning environments, weak assessment systems undermining academic rigor, and inadequate research ethics committees coupled with weak plagiarism controls that jeopardize institutional integrity.

Mr. Momoh called on universities to align academic programs with national development priorities, including agriculture, mining, governance, health, science, maritime studies, and the digital economy. He warned that irrelevant or poorly resourced programs undermine institutional purpose and national progress.

Principal of the Civil Service Training College, Dr. Victor Massaquoi, presented on Internal and External Quality Assurance Frameworks, emphasizing that quality assurance originates with leadership and permeates all university operations, including teaching quality, infrastructure development, funding mechanisms, and institutional culture. He stressed that no program should operate without accreditation from the Tertiary Education Commission and highlighted the necessity of dedicated budgets for quality assurance functions.

Correspondent-Richard Williams

Ministry of Technical and Higher Education

Tel: +232 03086143