ACCREDITATION AND POST-ACCREDITATION EXPERIENCES OF ARCHITECTURE SCHOOLS IN SOME PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES IN NIGERIA

Quality assurance is the bedrock of higher education in any society. In Nigeria, quality assurance in architectural education is undertaken through programme accreditation by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the professional bodies which in this case are the Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON) and the Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA). Against the background that private universities are relatively new comers to the Nigerian educational system, this paper examined the accreditation and post-accreditation experiences of schools of architecture in some private universities. Four private universities with accredited architecture programmes in South West Nigeria were used as cases for the study. Interviews and documentary evidence were the main sources of data. It was found that the lean and efficient management structure of private universities facilitated prompt planning and execution of the accreditation processes. A potential area of conflict was identified in the annual post-accreditation visitation of professional jurors sent by ARCON/NIA to assess the terminal works of the students. A more pragmatic approach to the issue of professional jurors was proposed. Most importantly, a framework for continuous school-practice interface was adjudged to be better in promoting the quality of architectural education in the study area which ultimately may facilitate validation in the global context.