Impact of outsourcing services on tertiary students’ learning environment: a case of university of Malawi, the Polytechnic

Abstract

Outsourcing of noncore services has been a new phenomenon in most institutions in most developing countries, Malawi inclusive. Although at tertiary institutions, the ultimate goal is ensuring that students have a better learning environment through the provision of such services, little is known about how contracting out such noncore services contributes towards this. Based on this background, the importance of a study of the impact of outsourcing of noncore services on the students’ learning environment cannot be overstated. The study used data collected from Polytechnic from 80 students who were randomly sampled from the student body at the college. In collecting the data, a structured questionnaire was used, with a 5 point likert scale ranging from 1= strongly agree and 5=strongly disagree. Statistical analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS v 16.0). The analysis was done using three approaches, Univariate, Bivariate and Multivariate. A Pearson’s chi-square was also used to test association between variables at p<0.1. The results revealed that about 55% of the students indicated that their learning environment was not affected as a result of outsourcing practices whereas 45 % reported experiencing challenges due to the same. Furthermore, a bivariate analysis indicates that faculty of study, quality of food served, quantity of food served, and quality of services delivered, were the significant factors that affected students’ learning environment at University of Malawi’s Polytechnic. Thus the study generally found that, after implementation of the outsourcing policy, quality of services rendered by the contracted firms, in terms of food provision, cleaning and general sanitation, to the College have a significant effect on influencing the learning environment of the students at the Polytechnic. Therefore, based on the study findings, there is need for a comprehensive audit about the quality of services that the contracted firms provide to the students, if the learning environment is to be improved. Overall the study provides an insight and a way of addressing important practical applications that emanate from outsourcing practices within the University of Malawi.