Stakeholders’ perspective: Quality education through continuous Improvement

Quality in any deliverable is non-negotiable. To ensure quality, institutions seek accreditation. The definition of quality is varied and highly contextualized. Efforts should be invested in acquiring the definition of the term quality particularly from the various perspectives of the stakeholders of the higher learning institutions. Stakeholders’ valuable input can contribute to improved quality assurance framework. This study determined the definition of quality from the stakeholders of accredited Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs). The stakeholders’ definition of quality was determined through a Focus Group Discussion (FGD). The participants, selected by purposive sampling, were composed of administrators, teachers and students from eight (8) institutions accredited by PACUCOA, PAASCU and AACCUP. The participants were presented with Total Quality Management (TQM) and CHED definition of quality. Using Kendall’s W, the concordance of stakeholders’ definition of quality was determined. There was no perfect concordance on the six definitions of quality but all the categories of stakeholders (administrators, teachers and students) are in complete agreement at rank 1 that quality is defined as continuous involvement. Satisfaction of the stakeholders of the continuous improvement efforts is the ultimate measure of the quality of any deliverable. Being exposed to the accreditation process, stakeholders in accredited institutions have observed and have accepted that continuous improvement is a consequence of accreditation. Therefore, quality education is achieved through continuous improvement.