Service Quality in Education at Addis Ababa University: The case of the Faculty of Business and Economics Extension Program

Abstract

Despite the fact that tertiary level education has been immensely operational,
maintaining quality education has become a challenge in Ethiopia. This paper is
trying to find out the problem related to service quality in education at Faculty
of Business and Economics of Addis Ababa University (Accounting,
Economics, Management, Public Administration and Informatics), specific to
the extension program. The servqual model is used as an instrument
methodology to measure the service quality vis-à-vis Tangibles, Reliability,
Responsiveness, Assurance, and Empathy. Primary data pertaining to the
research was collected from randomly selected students’ drawn from the five
departments’ under Faculty of Business and Economics. The findings of the
study show that except for responsiveness, all the remaining parameters
exhibited positive responses from the students. The responsiveness of the
Faculty of Business and Economics for evening students is low. But, the
students’ replied that the faculty is reliable, shows good empathy, good service
assurance and tangible. However, some of these items in construct show
negative responses. The faculty has to use its resources to improve the problems
identified in certain items in the constructs of this research. The study is limited
to measure the service quality of the Faculty of Business and Economics
extension program. The finding of the study however, may not represent the
entire performance of the University. The recommendations and suggestions of
this research would serve as a foundation to reinforce the relevance and crucial
role that the service quality plays towards the performance of the University.