Quality Assurance and Accreditation of Teacher Education in Pakistan: Scope for Internationalization

This semi-structured qualitative study aimed to explore the perceptions of the faculty of education departments in various universities about the quality assurance and accreditation process and their willingness to initiate this process in their respective departments. A mixed item questionnaire comprising close and open ended questions was used to collect data from 152 faculty members teaching in the education departments of 16 universities of Pakistan. The faculty members serving at various positions were purposively selected for the study. Triangulation was achieved through content analysis of the survey, document analysis of NACTE manuals and HEC directives. Finally, thematic analysis was completed to arrive at conclusions. The study concluded that the faculty of education departments lacks awareness about the quality assurance and accreditation process. Moreover, findings also suggest that universities are not prepared in many aspects for the achievement of national accreditation. However, in spite of their unwillingness to initiate efforts for internationalization, the faculty demonstrated a keen interest in learning about the accreditation process itself. It is recommended that National Accreditation Council for Teacher Education must set new targets to meet the goals of the accreditation of teacher education in Pakistan.


Introduction
Internationalism is becoming a pivotal phenomenon in higher education, although its contours remain ambiguous but this phenomenon is continuously growing (Knight, 2004(Knight, , 2010Vander Wende, 2007). Knight stated that "internationalization at the national, sectoral, and institutional levels is defined as the process of integrating an international, intercultural, or global dimension into the purpose, functions or delivery of postsecondary education" (2015, p.2). Internationalization has been spearheaded since the 1990s, especially in the English speaking world including the United of States America, United Kingdom and Australia (Alawad, Bai, DeMara & Lin, 2014);1990s was the time period when education began to be dealt with as an exportable product. Internationalization has dependably existed in higher education and universities have been influenced internationally by social, cultural and physical developments all around the world. These developments have given universities the capacity not to limit themselves but exceed specific spatial parameters (Van Damme, 2002;De Wit, 2010;Shin & Toutkoushian, 2011).
Today, most of the European and Asian countries have developed their own systems of quality assurance to meet the demands of internationalization and globalization of higher education, while quality assurance and regulatory authorities assist governments to promote higher education for the sake of international competitiveness (Salmi, 2011;Hazelkorn, 2015). Many quality assurance organizations as International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) and Asia Pacific Quality Network (APQN), Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) etc. are paying more attention to the impact of ranking on higher education (Hou, 2012). Following the global trend, Pakistan has also established the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the National Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (NACTE), which have developed quality criteria of international standards for the evaluation of programs offered at higher education institutions to improve the quality of faculty, infrastructure and research (Batool & Qureshi, 2007;Khan, Janjua, Naeem & Kayani 2014;Mirza, 2015).
The competitive environment influenced by globalization and internationalization of higher education is not just creating growth in the international labor market; it is threatening the sustainability of traditional culture and local languages of various communities as well (Knight, 2013;Venkatesh, 2013). English as a foreign language is the official language of higher education in Pakistan; therefore, reading and writing in local languages is becoming extinct and indigenous languages cannot enrich themselves with new knowledge. On one hand, pressure is increasing on the government to pay attention to quality assurance, research integration, teaching in English, growth in publishing research and the use of ICTs; on the other hand, commercialization has invaded and permeated every aspect of academic life (Knight, 2013).
The mobility of students at undergraduate and postgraduate level is understood as the key to internationalization for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across the globe (Rivza & Teichle, 2007). Universities must create dynamic strategies for their own students to study overseas as well as having foreign students on their campuses, either through an exchange program or through regular admissions (Bhandari & Blumenthal, 2013;Altbach, 2015). Rizescu (2013) explains that the HEIs need to build up a policy to pursue their international goals; an indiscriminate approach labeled "the more-the best" and pushing the limits of academia in the domains of content and delivery will not work anymore. Every university needs to make its own particular and distinct international record, determine its strengths and weaknesses and benchmark some leading international HEIs for quality improvement. Here an interesting question arises; whether HEIs can adapt themselves to internationalization by adopting specific quality frameworks and methodology? This research seeks the answer to this question in the context of schools/departments of education in Pakistani universities. Knight (2014) explains that whatever is the policy, internationalization should be supported by an arrangement of structures and systems with a specific end goal, which ought to be actualized appropriately. The essentials to reach internationalization or getting international accreditation for programs and institutions include the following:- Internationalization of curricula and syllabi  Student and teacher mobility through exchange programs  Focus on standardized learning outcomes for all students To achieve these central objectives, quality assurance of services are needed, such as proper infrastructure (building, equipment and facilities), teachers' qualification, research capacity, and facilitative leadership empowering faculty and staff (Arif, Ilyas & Hameed, 2013;. Since customer satisfaction is the main focus, therefore, creating an alumni network is critical. Similarly, in order to promote research to establish professional communities and industry, academic linkage is vital. Here, the question arises that how much awareness has been created among faculty and management for the utility and importance of taking these steps in the education departments of Pakistani universities? Change gurus like Fullan (2015) expound that resistance could not be overcome unless teachers willingly assume their role as "change agents." Readiness comes before implementation. Although there are many blind attempts at the implementation of quality and accreditation programs going on in education departments of various universities of Pakistan, however, nothing fruitful has been achieved yet. Only seven universities of Pakistan have qualified to be included in first 1000 universities of the world and only two of them are included in the first 500 (Academia, 2019). What is lacking is the will, motivation, resources and/or policy, which can make things smoother for Pakistani universities to qualify for better ranks in international rankings. Indeed getting local accreditation is the first step, therefore, HEIs must aim to pursue it. This research strives to determine how effectively this step is being taken by the education departments of universities in Pakistan.
The institutions and networks which deliver cross-border programs or courses are required to be registered, recognized or licensed from both receiving and sending countries. Therefore, quality assurance and accreditation are the essential requirements to reap the benefits of internationalization (Spilka & Dobson, 2015). There is also a lack of capacity and political will in many countries to develop a regulatory framework for the evaluation of quality assurance and accreditation of foreign course providers and programs (Rector & Beck, 2012). Same problems are faced by Pakistani universities as well (Nadeem, Abbas & Javed, 2014). Higher Education Commission in Pakistan serves the purpose of both quality assurance and accountability of higher education. One of its key objectives is also setting parameters for internationalization and ranking (Nadeem et al., 2014;Shahid, Wahab & Ahmed, 2016).
The quality of higher education in Pakistan is relatively lower as compared to the western countries; hence, seriously planned efforts are needed for quality assurance and quality enhancement (Akhtar, 2007;Jabeen, 2010;Dilshad & Iqbal, 2010;Khan, 2011;Arif et al., 2013;. Some efforts in this respect have been made by the government of Pakistan, such as in 2006 a National Assessment and Accreditation Council was established and Education Sector Reform (ESR) and National Education Assessment System (NEAS) were implemented to improve teachers' qualification and educators' cadre and to assess and monitor the quality of teaching in the institutions of teachers' education in Pakistan. The findings of Dilshad and Iqbal (2010) about the indicators of quality assurance in institutions of pre-service teachers' education in Pakistan indicated the urgent need of the implementation of assurance system in the Pakistani context which resulted in the development of standards for teachers' education (NACTE 2009) by the Accreditation Council of Teacher Education (ACTE). An autonomous body (NACTE) has been setup by HEC through notification of Federal Government in the gazette of Pakistan to ensure and enhance the quality of teachers' education. The mission of NACTE is to ensure the quality of teachers' education programs through internal and external professional and academic evaluations for accreditation and also to provide support for the facilitation of teachers' education intended for their capacity building and self-improvement.
NACTE has developed Standards for the Accreditation of Teacher Education Programs and for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) (Mirza, 2015). This framework comprises seven National Accreditation Standards (NAS).A conceptual framework is mandatory to be adopted as an initial accreditation requirement and subsequently to implement the seven standards for longterm planning. These standards are used to measure and evaluate the quality through dividing it into further measurable indicators. These standards have been created through the coordination of NACTE, HEC and USAID's STEP program (Huma, 2013). NACTE evaluates the teachers' evaluation programs provided by public universities, private institutions and foreign affiliated institutions, since all teacher education programs are mandatory for accreditation. The government of Pakistan is keen for the improvement of higher education and especially teacher education in Pakistan and it has taken many valuable initiatives in this regard. Hence, it is important to know where these steps have led us today.

Purpose of the Research
The education system of Pakistan is well established since long. In the 1960s and 1970s, many international students from neighboring countries preferred to study in Pakistani universities, especially in the fields of medicine and engineering. Afghan war and the war on terror changed this scenario. Today, the Gulf States, Malaysia and India are becoming the hub of higher education in Asia while Pakistan is lagging far behind. We have the potential infrastructure and human resource capital needed for the revival of higher education. What is missing in academia is the lack of initiative. Internationalization is important as a medium for preparing global worker/citizen to compete in the global market. Can we follow Turkey and Malaysia to implement an open border education system? This particular study is carried out to determine the preparedness of the faculty of education departments of Pakistani universities for national and international accreditation.

Research Questions
1. To what extent the departments of education are following the guidelines for quality assurance given by NACTE?
2. Whether or not the faculty of education is willing to engage in the internationalization process? If not, then why is it unwilling?

Research Design
Phenomenological approach was used to identify the emerging phenomenon of accreditation as perceived by the faculty members of the education departments in Pakistani universities in both public and private sectors. A semi-structured qualitative research design was opted for according to the guidelines of Blandford (2013); it is a flexible design which can "occupy a space between ethnography and surveys" (p. 1).
A questionnaire with mixed items (both open ended and close ended) was also developed to be used as the research tool as a replacement of semistructured interviews. The items included in the questionnaire were derived from an extensive literature review and were aimed at gathering information about the faculty's knowledge and involvement in the process of accreditation and the challenges they face in this process. Moreover, 5 interviews were held with senior faculty members of three universities in Lahore. In light of the discussion generated by these interviews, a questionnaire was designed. The questionnaire was expertly reviewed to ensure content validity and was further reviewed by a language expert for the use of language and its understanding. Then, the approved questionnaire was pilot tested with 10 faculty members, 5 from the University of the Punjab and 5 from the University of Education before its final administration. A questionnaire comprising23items with multiple options along with the space to enter personal comments was used for the final data collection (see Appendix A).
The researcher used the criterion based purposive sampling, the most suitable type of non-probability sampling for identifying the primary Volume 2 Issue 1, 2019 participants of the research (Welman & Kruger, 1999). The sample selected by the researcher wasbased upon the purpose of the research (Babbie, 1995;Groenewald, 2004;Creswell, 2012). The criteria set for selection is as follows:-1) The university must have a running education department offering regular undergraduate and graduate degree programs in education.
2) Either the departments have been already accredited with NACTE or the process has been going on at the time of data collection.
Using criterion based sampling, the researcher selected sixteen universities as the sampled spots from four divisions of Punjab including Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and Rawalpindi along with one federal area, that is, Islamabad. Triangulation of sources was applied for data collection; data was collected from various tiers of the faculty/staff ranging from research associates and members of the quality assurance department to professors, head of departments and deans. The researcher used the census technique to approach the target sample comprising faculty members (about 300) teaching in the education department of selected universities. The researcher visited each faculty member at least thrice as follow up for successful completion of data collection. Data was collected over a period of six months. 152 completely filled questionnaires from the education departments of sixteen universities constituted the final data.
All data was screened, cleaned and transcribed for final analysis. The data comprised responses to 23 openended items of thequestionnaire. Summative qualitativecontent analysis was considered the best method for data reduction, suiting the needs of a phenomenological approach and the best recommended technique for analyzing content yielded by the current research (Elo & Kyngas, 2008;Hsieh & Shannon, 2005).Guidelines for summative qualitative content analysis given by Hsieh and Shannon (2005) were followed:-1) Themes emerged in the extensive literature review through directed content analysis of the related literature and NACTE's guidebook. 2) These themes were further probed through the mixed item questionnaire to obtain data. 3) Data collected through questionnaire were organized according to prestructured themes and analyzed through 'summative content analysis'; the responses were explained in percentages.
4) The findings were discussed in the light of global literature and theories of internationalization and globalization. 5) Finally, conclusions were drawn about the collective understanding of the phenomenon of accreditation and internationalization by the faculty of education departments in Pakistani universities and their willingness to learn and continue with this phenomenon to compete in international market of higher education. Table 1 shows the frequency and percentage of the position of faculty members as lecturers, assistant professors, associate professors, Head of the Departments (HODs),professors, deans and others in the universities from where data was collected. After screening, the data was organized into the following themes and subthemes for further exploration. The data was categorized under two main themes and several subthemes answering the research questions. The first theme was about following the guidelines of NACTE (local accreditation system) and the second theme was about the willingness of the faculty to do so. Presumably, it is very important to have a quality assurance system in a university and the education department must be connected with that system. Moreover, it is important to have the local accreditation first; international accreditation can be pursued only afterwards.

Theme No 1: Following NACTE Guidelines
NACTE assesses the department of education according to certain criterion. Key aspects of this criterion are discussed below to know the extent to which the NACTE guidelines are being followed. 5.1.1. Subtheme 1.1: organizational structure of universities. Regarding management styles, 110 respondents (72%) opined that their universities are operated in bureaucratic and top-down style of management, whereas 42 respondents (28%) reported democratic decision making and organizational structure. Regarding shared decision making, 45respondents (29%) opined that delegation and empowerment is missing in their departments and junior faculty is kept silent and expected to comply. On the contrary, 43 respondents (28%) reported that they are encouraged to suggest improvements and innovations to their respective senior management, while 26 respondents (17%) professed that they are completely empowered to take initiatives and management supports them in doing so.

Subtheme 1.2: professional development of faculty members.
85% respondents from education departments reported that they have been involved in professional development activities; however, another 53(41%) responded that professional development activities are scarce in their departments. Regarding the occurrence of professional development activities, 40 respondents (31%) reported that such activities occur twice a year, while another 37 respondents (28.48%) stated that professional development activity occurs only once a year in their department.

Subtheme 1.3: student scholarships.
According to respondents, most of the education departments of Pakistani universities, that is, 128 departments (84.21%) offer scholarships to students seeking admission; while some of them, that is, 24 departments (15.78%) reported that their universities are not offering any scholarships. The nature of scholarships offered to students includes need-based (45%) scholarships, merit-based scholarships (36%), kinship-based (11%) and government scholarships (7%).

Subtheme 1.4: industry-academia linkage.
Regarding industryacademia linkage, 82(54%) faculty members teaching in the various education departments of Pakistani universities reported that their department is associated with schools, while another 70 faculty members (46%) reported that they are not associated with any school. 34(41%) faculty members reported that their departments are associated with public schools, while 24faculty members (30%) said that they are associated with private schools. 24(30%) faculty members informed that their departments are associated with both types of schools. 34(41%) faculty members reported to have coordinated with national institutions for internationalization of their curricula only, while 24 faculty members (30%) reported that they have coordinated with international institutions only. Another 24faculty members (30%) reported that they have links with both types of institutions. 5.1.5. Subtheme 1.5: external linkages and funding. 8 faculty members (38%) teaching in education departments of Pakistani universities reported that their institutions has signed MOUs with other institutions, while 12% faculty members reported that they are in the process to sign MOUs. Although the majority did not consider it an important activity and 75 faculty members (49.34%) reported that they have not signed MOUs with any other institution, whether local or international. 45 faculty members (29.6%) reported that MOUs have been signed with other institutions for faculty training programs. 15 faculty members (9.9%) said that MOUs are intended for faculty exchange programs, while 5 faculty members (3%) responded that their universities have signed MOUs for both faculty and student exchange programs. Indeed, only one university (1%) has signed an MOU for faculty training. 96faculty members (63%) reported that they are not getting funded for internationalization by any international donor agencies or NGOs. 5.1.6. Subtheme 1.6: managing alumni network. 49faculty members (32%) affirmed that they manage their alumni network, while 103 faculty members (68%) do not have any alumni network. 88faculty members (57%) reported that they engage alumni for the branding of their university and especially their department of education, while 64 faculty members (43%) follow no such practice. 120 faculty members (79%) reported that they do not maintain any alumni network or private endowment funds, while only a few, that is 32 faculty members (21%) reported that they have a proper alumni network and maintain endowment funds.

Subtheme 1.7: student engagement in social welfare activities.
According to 110faculty members (73%), there is no trend of engaging in social welfare activities in their departments, while only 42 faculty members (27%) reported that their students are engaged in social activities for the betterment of the society. Student engagements include voluntary work at special peoples' institutions (74%) and in old age homes (7%), respectively. 114 faculty members (75%) reported that their departments are not involved in any national cause such as increase in literacy or gender equality; only 38 faculty members (25%) have some involvement in national causes and movements. 5.1.8. Subtheme 1.8: status for NACTE accreditation. NACTE is the accreditation agency for teacher education in Pakistan. According to faculty members, all teacher education programs are supposed to be accredited with NACTE. Only a few of these programs are accredited in 28departments of education(18%); while 22 faculty members (14%) informed that their departments are undergoing the process of accreditation for their teacher education programs. However, 52 faculty members (34%) reported that their departments have not yet started any efforts for accreditation with NACTE.

Subtheme 2.1: involvement in quality assurance activities.
All universities must have a Quality Enhancement Cell (QEC) according to HEC directives. Still, only 100faculty members (65%) teaching in the education departments reported that they were actively involved with the QEC of their universities, whereas, 52 faculty members (35%) reported that they had no quality enhancement activities going on in their departments.
Regarding quality assurance activity, that is, 'conducting student feedback for courses taught', 60 faculty members (39%)reported that student feedback was conducted regularly in their departments, whereas, 65 faculty members (43%) informed that they had not conducted any student feedback for teaching of courses in their departments. Evidence based strategic planning was also found to be a rare activity. According to most of faculty members, that is,115faculty members (76%), teachers in the education departments were not using student feedback data for any future planning, while only some of the departments had used this data for future planning as reported by their faculty members numbering 37(24%).
Most of the faculty members, that is, 123 faculty members (81%) reported that their promotion was not dependent upon feedback and performance reviews. Indeed, most of the universities have not developed an effective system for the evaluation of teachers' performance. Only 29 faculty members (19%) reported that their departments had established a system of faculty promotion dependent upon feedback and performance reviews.

Subtheme 2.2: intentions to pursue internationalization.
Most of the faculty members, that is, 100 faculty members (66%) did not express any intention to pursue any form of internationalization. However, 52faculty members (34%) professed that their department and/or university has some future agenda to pursue international ranking. 28 faculty members (82%) reported that they are considering QS Ranking and only a few, that is, 6 faculty members (18%) reported that they are considering TIMES Ranking. The faculty rendered such a high ranking as a dream only because it is a very expensive process. 38 faculty members (54%) pointed out the lack of funding as a major hurdle in applying for international ranking. 24 faculty members (34%) attributed their lack of willingness for internationalization to the lack of interest exhibited by the university leadership and management. Only 8 faculty members (12%) viewed the lack of willingness as an outcome of ignorance and the lack of information/knowledge about the process of internationalization.

Discussion
University has always been an international institution claiming its global rights for students and faculty. After the Second World War, the creation of nation-states halted this process for some time but the recent revolution in ICTs and global media has broken all borders and barriers (Henderson, Barnett & Barnett, 2017). Quality assurance and internationalization are the basic objectives for the institutes of higher education. In international market, accreditation and ranking of universities are getting more and more popular which is affecting the perception of all stakeholders and beneficiaries of the higher education sector (Altbach, 2015;Knight, 2015). All universities around the world need to pay close attention to it; opportunities for accreditation and internationalization must be available to education departments as well because the quality of the whole education system depends upon teacher quality (Siddiqui, 2010).
The importance of the quality of education was not as crucial in the past as it is today. Students have now an open choice to study at home or at the nearby international hub, similar are the choices for faculty. Higher education is no more understood as public service, but it has achieved the status of an industry and has become a business. For the regulation of this new commodity, World Trade Organization's (WTO) rules and regulations provide the necessary framework (Kirp, 2003;Altbach, 2004;Altbach & Knight, 2007;Altbach, 2015) for its open and free trade. Research tells us that the education departments of Pakistani universities are lagging far behind in following this vision. Awareness, knowledge, motivation, initiative, attitude and interest should be built in all stakeholders to play their role to enhance the quality of education and overcome the hurdles in the process of internationalization.
Strategies for internationalization of higher education vary from country to country (Warwick & Moogan, 2013), ranging from international placement of students, student and faculty exchange programs, adopting quality standards, and teaching in English (Tossavainen, 2009). One way is to increase budgets on research like many developed countries such as USA, UK and Australia; many universities are transforming themselves to become research universities following this model. Pakistan also needs to develop some model (Geiger, 2004;Huang, 2015;Altbach, 2015). Although HEC and other accreditation agencies have provided clear guidelines in this aspect, still newly emerging private institutions are not registered with local and international agencies of accreditation and the graduates are facing difficulties in getting jobs and further admissions; some of them even find it hard to get their degrees attested and recognized by HEC. Therefore, accountability standards for quality assurance should be made stricter; since service quality provided at all universities must be regulated to save people's money, time and effort (Arif et al., 2017). Knight (2014) expounded that whatever is the policy, internationalization should be supported by an arrangement of structures and systems with a specific end goal which ought to be appropriately actualized. The benchmarking of curriculum and course outlines serves as a useful model to attract not only good students but may increase the inward mobility of international students as well. The age of information has changed the space and location of teaching and learning as well. In this hectic world, distance learning in the form of e-learning is preferred over face to face actual learning, especially for continuing professional education. Most of the education departments do not offer e-learning programs to international participants as yet. Effective and efficient management is required by providing training programs, motivation, financial security and resources to raise teachers' and management's awareness about the potential benefits of international ranking.
Internationalization has dependably existed in higher education in spite of the renewed recognition for this venture (Knight, 2010). Quality assurance and internationalization or globalization are the phenomena to stay (Arif et al., 2013;; therefore, policy makers must look beyond the utilitarian and politicized implications of internationalization. Timely decisions matter; we live in a global world where closed countries like China, Russia and other communist countries have opened their doors to follow international standards of quality assurance and accreditation (Van Damme, 2002;Shin & Toutkoushian, 2011;De Wit & Beelen, 2014). Researchers, therefore, highly recommend universities and departments not to limit themselves to spatial limits.
Many institutions link accreditation tasks with quality assurance and perceive it as a slow, unending and laborious task. The university management that is responsible for decision making and action lacks capacity or political will to create an efficient regulatory framework to systemize quality assurance and accreditation. They hesitate in spending high fees for accreditation to national or international agencies. This lack of interest is transferred to the department level; the faculty is already burdened and they don't want to take further responsibilities without any tangible benefits. NACTE should develop such policies for accreditation, which should be within the reach of all departments pursuing accreditation. International quality indicators should be implemented and used to scientifically assess the quality of education through strict adherence to the international quality standards.

Conclusion
The findings regarding following quality assurance activities of NACTE suggest that education departments of Pakistani universities are not serious in getting NACTE accreditation. A very negligible percentage of faculty (18%) expressed that all programs offered by their departments are not accredited. Neither did the faculty express any enthusiasm about getting involved in NACTE accreditation, nor did they find any relevant activities initiated by their university leadership. However, the faculty expressed willingness to learn more about quality assurance, accreditation, and its benefits for their departments. The findings of this research conclude that education departments of Pakistani universities are not keenly following the directions for quality assurance and accreditation by NACTE. The departments have taken few steps for industry academia linkages or external relations. It is strange that many universities and departments have no association or Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) with public and private schools to send their students for teaching practice. Similarly, the departments are not involved in initiating student and faculty exchange programs. Most of them have no alumni network or endowment funds to regulate their expenses.

Suggestions for Improvement
Teachers and teacher education play a crucial role for the improvement of the overall quality of education (Akyeampong & Lewin, 2002;Lewin & Stuart, 2003;Little, 2006).The government should soften the policies for coordination of departments with other national institutions and also should take steps with other governments to develop coordination with international departments. To save their future, the education departments will have to take any or all of the following measures as suggested by (Altbach & Knight, 2007).
1. Cross-border supply. This mode may include distance education (elearning) and franchising courses or degrees. It does not necessarily require the physical movement of the consumer or provider. 2. Consumption abroad. The consumer moves to the country of the provider. This mode includes traditional student mobility. 3. Commercial presence. The service provider establishes facilities in another country including branch campuses and joint ventures with local institutions. 4. Presence of natural persons. This mode includes persons, including professors and researchers, who temporarily travel to another country to provide educational services.