The contribution of quality assurance systems is critical to the delivery of quality higher education in higher education institutions. Malawi has experienced a growing demand for higher education resulting in rapid growth of private universities in recent years; calling for checking on quality of education and quality assurance systems. This study was guided by four research questions, which focused on quality assurance elements that contribute to provision of quality education. The aim of this study was to explore how quality assurance systems affect quality of education in private universities in the city of Lilongwe in Malawi. The research used mixed research methods that included both qualitative and quantitative research methods in data collection and analysis. The sample size for the interviews was 30 respondents while the sample size for survey questionnaires was 70. Data was collected from students, lecturers and members of senior management from three private universities.
The analysis of qualitative and quantitative data obtained from both the interviews and surveys was carried out using thematic content analysis and SPSS respectively. The main findings of both surveys and interviews indicated that Quality Assurance Systems were not well established in the universities under study and that there were gaps related to infrastructure, quality of teaching staff, learning and teaching resources and lack of stakeholder involvement in private universities quality enhancement. The study further established that leadership in the three selected private university institutions had deficiencies in resource mobilization strategies hence there were challenges with financial resources for the sustainability of their institutions.
The researcher recommends the strengthening of Internal Quality Assurance systems in order to improve issues of infrastructure, learning and teaching resources, leadership capacity and stakeholder involvement through the establishment of Quality Assurance Units, with designated directorates and involvement of stakeholders in quality enhancement activities. This study concludes that internal quality assurance factors are sufficient for improvement of quality education and attainment of accreditation status.