Quality assurance of African higher education is at the top of the region’s development agenda. Prompted by the imperative to enhance the quality of higher education, the Africa Union Commission is implementing the African Quality Rating Mechanism (AQRM). The AQRM is a continental tool that affords higher education institutions an opportunity to conduct self-assessment and compare their performance against similar institutions based on a set of common criteria. The mechanism is envisaged to engender institutional cultures of quality and enhance the quality of African higher education. However, a dearth of knowledge exists about the latent notions of quality in higher education that the AQRM aims to assure and the implicit institutional-level quality assurance practices in the AQRM. Therefore, this interpretivist article, based on a review of the AQRM survey questionnaire, answered the following research question: What notions of quality in higher education and the institutional-level quality assurance practices are inherent in the quality standards of the AQRM survey questionnaire? The findings revealed that quality as fitness for purpose and exceptional are the notions of quality in higher education in the AQRM. Nevertheless, fitness for purpose is the dominant notion of quality and this symbolises an imperative to re-direct higher education to serve social and economic ends. Distinguished (excellent) teacher awards, applied research excellence awards, staff professional development, tracer studies, external examination, and the involvement of key external stakeholders in programme development are the latent institutional-level quality assurance practices in the AQRM. These quality assurance practices are in sync with the notions of quality and aim at bridging the gap between the academy and the labour market. Methodologically, the AQRM survey questionnaire is devoid of benchmarks to inform the rating, and quality assurance practices such as student evaluation of teaching, peer observation of teaching and moderation of examination items are unnoticeable in the survey questionnaire. Received : 28 December 2018 Accepted : 19 April 2019 Published online : 29 May 2019

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高等教育质量与质量保证“非洲（联盟委员会）观点”的探索：非洲质量评级机制（AQRM）中的潜在声音

非洲高等教育的质量保证是该地区发展议程的重中之重。在提高高等教育质量的紧迫性的提示下，非洲联盟委员会正在实施非洲质量评级机制（AQRM）。AQRM是一种大陆性工具，可为高等教育机构提供机会进行自我评估，并根据一套通用标准将其表现与类似机构进行比较。设想建立该机制，以提高质量的机构文化并提高非洲高等教育的质量。但是，对于AQRM旨在确保的高等教育质量隐性概念以及AQRM中隐含的机构级质量保证实践，知识的匮乏。因此，这篇解释论文章 在对AQRM调查问卷进行回顾的基础上，回答了以下研究问题：AQRM调查问卷的质量标准中固有的高等教育质量概念和机构级质量保证实践是什么？研究结果表明，质量既适合目标又适合特殊情况，是AQRM中高等教育质量的概念。然而，适合目的是质量的主要概念，这象征着重新引导高等教育服务于社会和经济目的的必要性。杰出（优秀）教师奖，应用研究卓越奖，员工专业发展，示踪研究，外部考试，以及主要外部利益相关者参与计划开发是AQRM中潜在的机构级质量保证实践。这些质量保证实践与质量概念保持同步，旨在弥合学院与劳动力市场之间的鸿沟。从方法上讲，AQRM调查问卷缺乏基准来告知评级，并且质量保证措施（如学生对教学的评估，对学生的同伴观察和对考试项目的审核）在调查问卷中并不明显。收到：2018年12月28日接受：2019年4月19日在线发布：2019年5月29日 AQRM调查问卷缺乏基准来告知评级，并且质量保证措施（如学生对教学的评估，对学生的同伴观察和对考试项目的审核）在调查问卷中并不明显。收到：2018年12月28日接受：2019年4月19日在线发布：2019年5月29日 AQRM调查问卷缺乏基准来告知评级，并且质量保证措施（如学生对教学的评估，对学生的同伴观察和对考试项目的审核）在调查问卷中并不明显。收到：2018年12月28日接受：2019年4月19日在线发布：2019年5月29日