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© Proceedings of the Ruhuna Quality Assurance Sessions 2021 (RUQAS 2021)
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21 September 2021

task of the Quality Assurance Council (QAC) of the University Grants Commission (UGC). Among
the challenges faced by QAC, 73.1% of respondents identified lack of continuous monitoring and

tracking system as the major challenge. The most important criteria that should be included in internal

QA framework were; teaching, learning and assessment procedure (91%), assessment method of
student progress and achievement (91%), research and extension (91%), curriculum content, design &

review based on graduate profile (92%).This study finally concludes that academics has a positive
perception on quality assurance in higher education and it must be further improved with removing the

institutional, student and resources barriers in delivering a high quality education. Further, it suggests
improving the internal QA framework QAC based on academics’ views. The research findings will

contribute to bridge the knowledge gap in the existing literature by introducing an effective

implementation and development of the QA system within the Sri Lankan higher education system.

Keywords: Academics Perception, Quality Assurance, Higher Education, University System

Introduction

Recently, the higher education system in Asia and European countries has been going through a
significant restructuring process. In both the UK and Australia, quality assurance in higher education

has been identified in their empirical studies. Quality assurance in higher education can be defined as

“an ongoing process of evaluating the overall quality in terms of education system, institutions or
programs (Vlăsceanu, Grünberg and Pârlea, 2007). Accordingly, the aim of the internal quality

assurance is to improve the core mission of the institution including quality teaching and learning

outcomes, quality research and community engagement activities besides the external quality
assurance effectively safeguard the quality of output and the standards of higher education while

enabling quality improvement (Coomaraswamy et al., 2014). In many countries, higher education
policies are initiated in relation with the quality assurance to enhance the quality education, ensure the

university accountability and transparency in allocating public funds and collaborating with diverse
stakeholders (Shah et al., 2011).

In Sri Lanka, the Quality Assurance Council (QAC), established in 2005, is the government agency

responsible for overseeing the quality assurance of 15 state universities. This council has established a

quality framework and has established internal quality assurance departments at all universities over
the last decade and has been widely adopted. Sri Lanka's existing QA process involves conducting

reviews of institutions, programs, and subjects, and has a special system for reviewing library facilities

in higher education institutions (Edgar et al, 2020). Academic staff, being one of the main stakeholder
groups, has a major responsibility to maintain quality and standards in higher education. In fact, as

dominant role players within the teaching and learning improvement process, academics are the group
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