APPLICATION OF QUALITY ASSURANCE PRACTICES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF NIGERIAN UNIVERSITY EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

All over the world, sustainable development has become an area of interest to researchers in the field of education, especially the university education, given the important and multi-faceted role of the university in the achievement of sustainable development in every economy. The United Nations defined sustainable development in 1987 through the Brundtland Commission (formally the World Commission on Environment and Development) as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Thus, it has become very germane for nations to strife to achieve the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to ensure that there is continuity in the development of every sector of the economy. This paper examined the role of the university education in fostering sustainable national development through the application of quality assurance practices in the management of Nigerian universities. The concepts of quality assurance and sustainable development were reviewed. The sustainable development goal 4 as well as the national goals for tertiary education were equally reviewed with the aim of identifying the key areas of relevance in terms of the role of the university education in achieving sustainable national development.