Universiti Tenaga Nasional

TQM in Classroom

Total quality management has received increased attention throughout the education sector. The inception of total quality management in Malaysia was formalized by the launching of a customer charter in year 1996 by The Ministry of Education. All schools and Higher Education Institutions were encouraged to implement total quality management. The National Higher Education Council and the National Accreditation Commission were formed in year 1996 and 1997 respectively to assess the quality of Public and Private Higher Education Institutions. This paper discussed how total quality management can help academic staff and students to increase their efficiency and effectiveness in the classroom in Higher Education Institutions. A sample of academic staff was used to study their practices and perceptions about using total quality management principles to improve classroom teaching. The findings suggest that few Higher Education Institutions have formal plans for applying total quality management principles in the classroom. The findings revealed academic staff choices of total quality management actions applicable to classroom teaching and reviewed measures that could be used to evaluate the effectiveness of total quality management applications in the classroom of Higher Education Institutions.