The Council on Higher Education (CHE) is an independent statutory body established in May 1998. The functions of the CHE include the following:
- To provide advice to the Minister of Higher Education and Training on request or on its own initiative, on all aspects of higher education policy.
- To develop and implement a system of quality assurance for higher education, including programme accreditation, institutional audits, quality promotion and capacity development, standards development and the implementation of the Higher Education Qualifications Sub-Framework (HEQSF).
- To monitor and report on the state of the higher education system, including assessing whether, how, to what extent and with what consequences the vision, policy goals and objectives for higher education are being realised.
- To contribute to the development of higher education through intellectual engagement with key national and systemic issues, including international trends, producing publications, holding conferences and conducting research to inform and contribute to addressing the short and long-term challenges facing higher education.
The CHE has executive responsibility for quality assurance and promotion and discharges this responsibility through the establishment of a permanent committee.
