ABSTRACT Higher education plays an important role in the social, economic and political development of any given nation. In the Namibian context, quality assurance systems have been put in place at both national and institutional levels through the establishment of national quality assurance agencies and units responsible for quality in institutions. A critical literature analysis of quality assurance systems in higher education shows that although they claim to strike a balance between improvement and accountability, external quality assurance mechanisms tend to have an accountability and compliance focus and to promote managerialisation and bureaucratisation of academia. This article argues that internal quality assurance systems, built on a strong quality culture, tend to be more effective in enhancing the quality of student learning experience and academic success than externally driven quality assurance. Thus, to promote genuine quality, more energy must be invested in external quality assurance capacitating and strengthening internal quality assurance systems.

中文翻译：

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加强内部质量保证，作为增强学生学习经验和学术成就的杠杆：纳米比亚的经验教训

摘要高等教育在任何特定国家的社会，经济和政治发展中均起着重要作用。在纳米比亚，通过建立国家质量保证机构和负责机构质量的单位，在国家和机构两级建立了质量保证体系。对高等教育质量保证体系的批判文献分析表明，尽管外部质量保证机制声称在改进和责任制之间取得平衡，但外部质量保证机制往往以责任制和合规为重点，并促进学术界的管理化和官僚化。本文认为，建立在强大的质量文化基础上的内部质量保证体系，与外部驱动的质量保证相比，在提高学生学习经历和学术成就的质量方面往往更有效。因此，为了提高真正的质量，必须在增强和增强内部质量保证体系的外部质量保证上投入更多的精力。