QUALITY POLICIES IN THE CURRICULUM FRAMEWORKS OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN MOZAMBIQUE

Abstract

The objective of this article is to evaluate the presence of guidelines of the National System of Evaluation, Accreditation and Quality Assurance of Higher Education (SINAQES) in curriculum frameworks of higher education institutions. This article is the result of a phenomenological research, which uses mainly documentary study on curriculum policies and frameworks of three universities based in Maputo, namely Eduardo Mondlane University, Pedagogical University and St. Thomas University of Mozambique. As main conclusions, the research found that the diversification of courses and the training of higher education academic staff are the most prominent guidelines in the policies on the quality of higher education. In the curriculum frameworks of the three studied universities, there are different approach levels to the quality of their education, even though all of them have established quality assessment offices. Furthermore, it must be recognized the merits of the quality assurance system in setting standards for higher education. The article also lists the most important successes regarding the implementation of SINAQES in Mozambican higher education institutions. However, this article draws attention to the danger of this system becoming a bureaucratic apparatus for the exclusive interests of elites, merchants of higher education and for the exclusion of the most disadvantaged social groups of the Mozambican society.