Quality Assurance for Higher Education from the Perspective of a University’s Organisational Structure, Approaches and Challenges in the Somali Context

This paper examines internal quality assurance (QA) in higher education within the Somali context, focusing on how organisational structure, governance and operational practices align (or fail to align) with international standards. We have surveyed 521 key informants from 54 universities (one public and 53 private) and employed descriptive and logistic regression analyses. We found widespread shortcomings: governance structures (boards, councils, senates) are often poorly defined or overlapping; key performance indicators (KPIs) and institutional performance metrics are seldom implemented; issues such as a shortage of qualified faculty, gender imbalance, insufficient funding and low research output hinder QA efforts. The paper recommends that the government swiftly establish a national QA framework, reinforce institutional governance, deploy clear KPIs and support capacity building to restore the credibility and effectiveness of higher education in Somalia.