An analysis of service quality measurements in tertiary Colleges in Kenya. A case study of Zetech College.

Abstract

The role of service quality in tertiary education institutions has received increasing attention during the last two decades. Tertiary education institutions should ensure that all services encounters are managed to enhance students’ perceived service quality. While there is consensus on the importance of service quality, its measurement is a challenge that tertiary education providers who aim to gain a better understanding of the quality issues of students’ experiences face. In fact, the use of the most appropriate measurement tools would help managers to assess service quality provided by their institution, thus having the ability to use the results to better design service delivery. In an effort to increase students’ satisfaction, it is imperative that tertiary education institutions measure the quality of services they provide to be able to improve on them. Students’ perceptions of the quality of services experiences against actual service received should be assessed. In a competitive higher education market place, the quality of services delivered separates an institution from its competitors. Therefore the results from service quality measurement can be used to position a tertiary education institution strategically in the market. Zetech College is one of the leading private tertiary education providers in Kenya. There has been an urgent need to measure service quality recently due to increased students complains on service delivery even with the existence of a very nicely articulated customer service charter. The aim of this study was to measure service quality in tertiary education institutions in Kenya. A case study of Zetech College was conducted. The study highlighted the students’ expectations about the quality of tertiary education services they are receiving at Zetech College. It also examined the current service quality levels and determined the size and direction of the gap between students’ perceived service quality and service expectations. The information from this study is expected to be very useful to all tertiary education providers in Kenya. The study was carried out on the basis that the sampled students were able and willing to make an evaluation and assessment of services received. The study was a case study of Zetech College. The ex-post facto research design was used. Stratified random sampling was used to select one hundred and twenty two (122) students out of five thousand one hundred and twenty four (5124) Zetech college students taking course for seven (7) examination bodies. Descriptive statistics was used for final analysis and results. The researcher found out that there was an 85.5% students’ expectations’ on service quality, with 62.5% of services offered being below what students expected in terms of service quality. There was negative 2.41/7 deviation in service quality from the students’ service quality expectations.