Quality Assurance in Higher Education in the Maldives: Are We Listening to the Students?

Abstract

Students are at the center of higher education which makes it essential
that their voices are heard and what students perceive as high quality are known
to the providers of higher education. The purpose of this nationwide quantitative
survey was to find out what students identified as markers of quality in higher
education. As this is the first study of its kind in the country, it is expected that
the results of this study would be valuable to higher education institutions and
higher education policy makers to cater the need of the students. Responses
from 25.17% (N=2580) of the target population were used to statistically
analyze the data. Results showed that students identified delivery and teaching
methods; amount of contact; feedback; curriculum relevancy and being
challenged by what they are learning; awareness and availability of support
networks; relationships and interactions; and accessibility and availability of
facilities as markers of quality.