Total Quality Management (TMQ) in Education

ONE OF THE EMERGING PHILOSOPHIES of management is that of total quality management. TQM has received wide acclaim as an effective approach for achieving quality and performance enhancements in industry.  With its recognition and acceptance increasing by the day in the private sector, academic institutions have started to explore the potential for applying the TQM philosophy to education.

TQM approach in education involves not only achieving high quality but also influencing all segments of the educational process: organization, management, interpersonal relations, material and human resources, etc. Applying the approach described above, quality becomes total (integral).

The introduction of total quality management requires a number of changes in educational institutions. The first changes have to occur in the attitudes and activities of the management and educators, in the organization and monitoring of the educational process, in the evaluation of its results, in the culture of communication, in the school atmosphere, and especially in the area of interpersonal relations.

TQM is all about quality management of the users, leadership and management loyalty, continuous improvement, prompt response, actions based on facts, and the willing participation of educators in the TQM culture.