ABSTRACT
Higher education contributes to economic growth by supplying the skills needed for the labour force through its teaching programme and the new ideas needed for technical progress through its research programme. Higher education will also produce discipline in the work force because commitment and determination are needed to complete a sustained period of study. Recently, governments of some developing countries have introduced or planned to introduce quality assurance in their higher education sector. However, interest in quality assurance may be due to a genuine attempt on the part of government to improve the effectiveness of the higher education sector. This sector can only play an important role in economic growth if it produces graduates with more relevant and high quality skills and research of relevance and quality. Senior government and university officials of developing countries meet regularly with their counterparts in developed countries in international conferences such as the meetings of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
