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.