Scholarly record

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF EFQM MODEL IN FOSTERING THE QUALITY OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN KOSOVO

Fidan Qerimi, Arbëresha Behluli, П. В. Борисов, Muhamet Hajdari

Abstract

Higher education in Kosovo is considered a public service, regardless of whether the institution is a state- or privately-owned facility. As such, regardless of the country?s stage of development, it faces a constant challenge, namely to ensure a quality education system. Quality assurance in higher education in Kosovo is characterized by problems and difficulties related to the low level of recognition and low interest of relevant institutions for internal quality mechanisms, as well as the lack of external control of higher education institutions by the competent authorities. Given these indicators, the purpose of this research is to show the significance of EFQM model in fostering the quality of higher education in Kosovo. So, this research will address one of the stakeholders based on the European Foundation for Quality Management (hereafter: EFQM) Model. The body of teachers in Higher Education in Kosovo consists of 4685 educators. Framed around this number, and based on the Slovin?s formula (1960), our sample contains 369 teachers, from whom we have accumulated information about the significance of EFQM model in fostering the quality of higher education in Kosovo. After collecting the results, a specific data analysis was conducted by of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (hereafter: SPSS). The findings of this study are significant in at least two respects. First, the study identifies the level of quality offered by higher education in Kosovo. An empirical understanding of the current state of affairs in Higher Education institutions enables addressing the issues to the competent quality assurance bodies on a national scale. It shows that Higher Education in Kosovo does not meet the standards of quality assurance as per the European Higher Education Area (hereafter: EHEA), and therefore, teachers play a pivotal role in the provision and growth of quality education. Secondly, and related to the first respect, the study demonstrates the pivotal role of teachers in the provision and growth of quality assurance. Given the results obtained from the research, we can say that the findings of this study are important for the fact that the level of quality offered by Higher Education has been identified. It is therefore possible to improve the current state of Higher Education by addressing these results to the competent bodies in order to increase the quality of Education.

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