The Executive Secretary for the Botswana Examinations Council, Dr Serara Moahi, has been appointed new president for the Association of Education Assessment in Africa (AEAA).
Moahi has taken over from Paul Wasanga, the Kenyan National Examinations Council Chief Executive Officer. Wasanga ended his tenure as president at the 30th AEAA conference held in Gaborone last week.
“I feel honoured to have been appointed president of AEAA,” said Dr Serara Moahi, the executive secretary of BEC. She said assuming this position presents a great opportunity for the Botswana Examinations Council and the country.
Moahi admitted that the position is a huge challenge as she has to balance the leadership roles at BEC and AEAA. However, she believes with the support of former presidency and BEC, she will be able to execute her duties.
AEAA exists to promote cooperation amongst examining and assessment bodies in Africa, encourage relevant examining and assessment activities among members, sponsor international participation in the field of educational testing and examining as well as commissioning research projects.
Botswana has been put on a high profile within the community of education assessment in Africa.
“It is an opportunity for our own education experts to contribute towards education development and expose our strengths in the global market,” she said. “This new position exposes us to best practices, exchange of ideas which will shape up towards achieving our goal of becoming an education hub. There are grey areas in our education system and with the exposure we hope to address them.”
Moahi said the 30th conference was successful and Botswana has benefitted much from the papers that were presented. She said Botswana has been challenged in catering for students with special needs but through the conference they have benchmarked.
“Making education accessible to such students is a struggle,” she said. “We have recognized that we haven’t arrived yet in terms of exam preparation, granting them full access in classrooms and school curriculum has to be aligned to cater for them,” she said.
Moahi added that they are looking forward to rope in ICT in examination and assessment, saying that “most countries have roped in e-marking, which makes the process of marking examinations easier and very efficient”.
