The National Commission for Higher Education Assessment (CONAES) between legitimacy and (in) definition of quality: record in minutes from 2016 to 2020

Abstract

This research seeks to analyze how the National Commission for Higher Education Assessment (Conaes), the body responsible for organizing the evaluation instituted by Law No. 10.861 / 2004, has understood its role and verify its understanding about Quality in Higher Education. With this aim, 28 minutes of the meetings held between November/2016 and July/2020, available in the commission's repository, on the Ministry of Education (MEC) website. The analysis of the minutes was based on the qualitative analysis software MaxQDA, considered a basic tool for coding and categorizing the occurrences in the collected texts. The analysis showed that Conaes, as the coordinating body of the national assessment system, self-defines itself in action, constantly reviewing its performance, motivated by internal discussions and changes in demands and complementary legislation, without, however, recognizing the legitimacy and purpose of its role in the coordination of the National Higher Education Assessment System (Sinaes). Positively, the constant review can be considered beneficial since its role is improved. In a negative way, however, it reveals uncertainty and irrelevance in relation to its practices, discussing, in many meetings, the lack of recognition of the very existence of Conaes. In the set of minutes analyzed, in-depth discussions on what quality is and its meaning in and for Higher Education were not identified, with implications related to evaluation procedures. For Conaes, quality and indicators are synonymous, with no indication of what can be considered a quality institution or course, leaving the score achieved in the evaluations as a criterion.