Normative Compliance and Operational (in)coherences in the Quality Assessment Instrument for Higher Education Courses in Angola
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This article analyses the compliance of the quality assessment implementation instrument for higher education courses in Angola, structured around the eleven indicators, standards and verification criteria defined by the National Institute for the Evaluation, Accreditation and Recognition of Higher Education Studies (INAAREES), with the applicable normative framework, namely the Legal Regime for the Evaluation and Accreditation of the Quality of Higher Education Institutions, the Self-Assessment Process Regulation, the External Evaluation and Accreditation Process Regulation, and the External Evaluation Manuals and the Self-Assessment Guide. Grounded in a qualitative approach centred on documentary analysis and content analysis technique, the study identifies areas of normative convergence, articulations between self-assessment and external evaluation processes, and disconnections that tend to undermine the coherence and effectiveness of the system. The findings reveal substantial formal correspondence between the instrument and the applicable norms, but also different levels of compliance in their operationalisation. The main disconnections are concentrated in the indicators relating to the student body, scientific research, and, to a lesser extent, university outreach. A predominance of existential criteria is also observed, to the detriment of criteria oriented towards processes, outcomes and impacts. The study concludes that a revision of the evaluation instruments is necessary in order to strengthen the pedagogical, participatory and transformative dimensions of the quality assurance system in Angolan higher education.
Source: Artefactum
Language: English
Topic: Education and Public Policy
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7204184772