Service quality of the technical education service at the Tanzania Institute of Accountancy: Gaps and recommendations

Abstract

In this article, the service standard of Tanzania's higher education is examined, particularly with regard to the five SERVQUAL arrangement aspects (tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy). The validity and dependability of SERVQUAL in evaluating higher education in Tanzania are also examined in the research. The study on which this paper is founded involved 125 TIA students. According to the research, Tanzania's technical education services are up to the standards set in the opinions of TIA students in terms of tangibility, reliability, and assurance. Two dimensions, responsiveness and empathy (under the item of student best interest as objective (-0.08)), did not meet the expectation (p < 0.05). The researcher observed a gap between TIA students' perceptions and expectations: reliability 0.100, responsiveness -0.0075, assurance 0.1675, empathy 0.03, and tangibility 0.240. The gap analysis between service perceptions and expectations showed that all scores for perceptions were higher than their expectations, except on the dimension of responsiveness, indicating that service quality was satisfactory. TIA management should increase efforts to enhance service quality under the responsiveness dimension. To close the gap between TIA students' perceptions and expectations, the institution must offer academic advice, respond to various students' questions, and provide timely feedback. This might benefit Tanzanian technical education.