TQM Is Not a Single Individual S Initiative. It Is a Collective Effort Towards Achievements

TQM is not a single individual’s initiative. It is a collective effort towards achievements.

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Education is a process through which a nation develops its self-consciousness by developing the self-consciousness of individuals who compose it. It is not mere public instruction, it is social institution, which provides mental, physical, ideological and above all training to individuals of the nation so as to enable them to have full consciousness of their mission, of their purpose in the life and then to achieve that purpose (AIOU, 2002).

Quality is one of the most important issues in education. It is recognized that there are problems with today’s education system. Students leaving or graduating from high schools and colleges are unprepared to meet the demands of society. These students are product of an education system that does not focus on quality and is a cause of increase in social welfare cost. Quality management is a vehicle to which professionals can use to cope with the “forces of change” (Arcaro, 1997).

Quality in higher education is a multidimensional concept, which includes all related functions and activities that form the part of academic life in an institution. Therefore, any framework for assessment of quality should take into account the quality of teachers, infrastructure provided to students, student support services, curricula assessment and resources (Isani and Virk, 2005).

Higher Education in the modern sense was introduced in India in 1857. Since then our degree education system has been going around in circles plodding the same beaten track. The only change that it has undergone is in its size. Over the last twenty five years we find an approximately fifteen fold increase in the number of students, teachers and colleges and in the expenditure incurred. It is true that when a public activity like education goes through a phase of rapid expansion quality tends to get neglected. In fact, there has been an almost total systemic neglect of quality in college education. A great deal has been written about the prevailing shortcomings and defects of our system. The built-in failures of the present system have been known for a long time. A few examples of these are the rigid curriculum and the lack of relevance of the present degree courses and their insensitivity to both the needs of the students and the requirements of the present day society; the far from satisfactory teaching-learning situation in our colleges; an examination system that requires and rewards only rote learning from students; and the general air of disinterestedness that characterizes the student population.

All the academic activities in colleges have been sought to be regulated by the affiliating universities through the curriculum and examinations. Consequently, there has been no attempt at quality enhancement or quality assurance involving innovative practices and going beyond the curriculum. However, under the impact of liberalization and globalization there is no aspect of public life which has remained untouched. Simply stated, the quality of life is both a national and an international concern today. In this endeavour, it has now become imperative that we take determined and decisive steps to review higher education so that we are able to educate and train students to be enlightened and responsible citizens, who have the attributes of the work force required for the twenty first century, who have knowledge, who are multi-skilled and who can think and act, contributing significantly to the continuous improvement of the quality of life. Quality assurance in higher education is a rising challenge in the global context as well.

Higher education lays significant emphasis on human capital formation. It produces intellectual leaders and path makers. No nation can go high without quality higher education. Basically, primary and secondary levels of education are concerned with transfer of knowledge from the teacher to the taught. But higher education involves analysis, synthesis and the transformation of information into knowledge. Teachers in higher education are to be involved not only in teaching, but also in making good citizens of the country.

Management science has supplied many principles for effective implementation of plan of action and getting maximum benefit by utilizing minimum resources in order to achieve the quality and meeting the international standards of higher education. Some of principles are management by objectives (MBO), management information system (MIS), force field analysis, programme evaluation and review technique (PERT), critical path analysis (CPA), cost-benefit analysis (CBA), benchmarking, simulation, total quality management (TQM), linear programming (Anwar, 2005).

Among all the management principles, Winn and Green (1998) recognized total quality management (TQM) as an important management philosophy because it has been used very successfully in the development and acquisition of systems. TQM offers a vehicle for schools and colleges to manage themselves effectively in a time of rapid change and retain a clear focus on the essential and dominant purpose of education (Rao, 2003). Total quality management is a set of tools, and process whose output yields customer satisfaction and continuous improvement of quality education. This philosophy and process differs from traditional philosophies and processes, which every institution can and must practice. It espouses “attitude, differentiates cost versus price, and provides added value (Hradesky, 1995).

Eventually, total quality management has become most debatable in present era because it is a style of management that offers both a process and a system to produce dynamic change in organizations. Total quality management is a personal philosophy and an organizational culture that utilizes scientific outcomes measurement, systematic management techniques, and teamwork to achieve the mission of the organization (Sherr and Lozier, 1991).

One of the best paths for improving the quality of education lies in Total Quality Management in teaching and learning process. Applying total quality management in the educational context creates value for educational institutions, teachers and taught. The main agents of educational process are teachers. The report of Indian Education Commission (1964-66) states, “The destiny of India is being shaped in classrooms. The most important and urgent reform needed in education is to transform it, to endeavour to relate it to the life, needs and aspirations of the people, and thereby make it a powerful instrument of social change necessary for the realization of national goals.”

The reforms in teacher education are necessary to achieve national goals. For this purpose, education should be developed so as to increase productivity, achieve social and national integration, strengthen democracy, accelerate the process of modernization and cultivate social, moral and spiritual values. The national goals cannot be achieved without educational development. Teacher education has a significant role to play in maintaining the quality of education. Quality management is not an overnight process and it is not the product of a single hand. Teacher training institutions are the places where skilled and developed individuals train and produce better, responsible and productive citizens. Therefore, quest for total quality management in teacher training institutions has become a watchword all over the world.

1.1.1. What is Quality?

Quality is generally defined as conformance to requirements. It is also conformance to a standard that is required. However, many consider that quality need not just be conformance to requirements but should be an assurance of being the best in the world of that type. In addition, it should also keep a constancy of purpose. Quality is the keyword for survival of organizations in the globalize economy. Quality is excellence which leads one firm’s product to dominate another and to guarantee its survival by establishing a new standard of quality.

In this sense quality is a mark of excellence, persistent and maintained over long periods of time. Such excellence is, of course a function of habits, culture and values and may thus vary from person to person and from time to time. Quality is defined by implication in terms of attributes and some scales used to measure and combine these attributes. In some cases, these attributes may be observed and measured precisely. But they can also be difficult to observe directly and impossible to measure with precision.

Quality is defined relative to available alternatives and can be measured and valued by some imputation associated with these alternatives. Quality is not a term that can be defined simply. Rather is a composite term, expressed in terms of attributes which define quality by implication. These attributes express-

· The relative desirability of product’s, items and services.

· The potential for substitution and product differentiation, both objective and subjective.

In this sense the concept of quality is both objective and subjective and is based on product and service differentiation. TQM is not a remedial procedure for better products. It is a march towards excellence and perfection.

What is Total Quality?

Total quality refers not only to the product but also to the way the product is made as well as presented to the customer. Total quality asks for customer orientation, process orientation, people management and leadership. All these are continuous processes.

Approaches to Quality

The concept and vocabulary of quality are difficult to express. Different people interpret quality differently. Few can define quality in measurable terms that can be operationalized. When asked what differentiates their product or service the banker will answer “service”, the healthcare worker will answer “quality healthcare”, the hotel or restaurant employee will answer “customer satisfaction”, and the manufacturer will simply answer “quality product”. When pressed to provide a specific definition and measurement, few can do so. There is an old maxim in management which says “If you cannot measure it, you cannot manage it”, and so it is with quality.

Harvard Professor David Garvin, in his book Managing Quality summarized five Principal approaches to defining quality.

1. Transcendent

2. Product based

3. User Based

4. Manufacturing Based

5. Value Based

1). Transcendent---- People from around the world travel to view the Mona Lisa or Michael Angelo’s David and most would agree that these works of art represent quality. But can they define it? Those who hold the transcendental view would say “I cannot define it, but I know it when I see it”. Television and print media are awash with such indefinable claims and therein lays the problem; quality is difficult to define or to operationalize.

2). Product Based---Product Based definitions are different. Quality is viewed as quantifiable or measurable characteristics or attribute. Quality is determined objectively.

3). User Based--- These definitions are based on the idea that quality is an individual matter and products that best satisfy their preferences (i.e. perceived quality) are those with the highest quality.

4). Manufacturing Based---- These definitions are concerned primarily with engineering and manufacturing practices and use the universal definition of “conformance to requirements”. Requirements or specification are established by design and any deviation implies a reduction in quality. The concept applies to services as well as product.

5). Value Based----Quality is defined in terms of costs and prices as well as a no. of other attributes. Thus the consumers purchase decision is based on quality at an acceptable price.

1.1.2 Quality in Education

Whenever quality in education is discussed it may be important to reflect on what is understood by the term ‘quality’. Many educators, researchers and politicians have tried to define this term and a number of different definitions can be found in the literature. One almost classical definition is the way in which Coombs described quality in his book The World Crisis in Education: the View from the Eighties ―Qualitative dimension means much more than the quality of education as customarily defined and judged by student learning achievements, in terms of traditional curriculum and standards. Quality also pertains to the relevance of what is taught and learned - to how well it fits the present and future needs of the particular learners in question, given their particular circumstances and prospects. It also refers to significant changes in the educational system itself, in the nature of its inputs (students, teachers, facilities, equipment, and supplies); its objectives, curriculum and educational technologies; and its socioeconomic, cultural and political environment (Coombs, 1985).

The World Bank has also tried to define quality. In the report “Priorities and Strategies for Education” (1995) education policy issues was discussed and following observations concerning quality was made: ―Quality in education is difficult to define and measure. An adequate definition must include student outcomes. Most educators would also include in the definition the nature of the educational experience that helps to produce thus outcomes – the learning environment (World Bank, 1995). There is also a large amount of other reports and publications discussing quality from a perspective of quality assurance and quality improvement. Spanbauer discusses the need for schools to have a quality policy. As an example he uses the Fox Valley Technical College Policy: ―It is the policy of Fox Valley Technical College to provide quality instruction and service consistent with the highest educational standards. We endeavour to provide precise, prompt, and courteous service and instruction to our students, to one another, and to the employers who hire our graduates and use our services. (Spanbauer, 1992).

Morgatroyd and Morgan propose three basic definitions of quality: 1) ―Quality assurance refers to the determination of standards, appropriate methods and quality requirements by an expert body, accompanied by a process of inspection or evaluation that examines the extent to which practice meets these standard; 2) ―... contract conformance, where some quality standards has been specified during the negotiation of forming a contract; 3) ―Customer-driven quality refers to a notion of quality in which those who are to receive a product or service make explicit their expectations for this product or service and quality is defined in terms meeting or exceeding the expectations of customers. (Morgatroyd & Morgan, 1994).