Delegates from over 25 countries in Africa, Europe and America are gathered at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja for the 37th conference of the Association for Educational Assessment in Africa (AEAA).
The experts would be discussing the theme: “Innovations in Educational Assessment” at the five-day conference being by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) Nigeria.
Head of WAEC National Office, Mr Olu Adenipekun said at a press conference at the WAEC headquarters Yaba, that five keynote speakers, including the JAMB Registrar, Prof Is-haq Oloyede; Prof Francisca Aladejana; and former WAEC International Chairman, Prof Redwood Sawyerr, would address the theme.
The HNO also said a total of 96 papers would be delivered at the conference by heads of Education assessment institutions, scholars, as well as companies with products and services needed for the smooth conduct of examinations.
“The 37th Annual Conference of the AEAA will kick-off on Monday, August 5, 2019, and the Minister of Education of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is expected to declare the Conference open wjlhile the Conference will close on Friday, August 9, 2019.
There will be presentations of academic papers from keynote speakers; paper presentations in plenary sessions; four parallel sessions and breakout sessions,” he said.
Adenipekun said he expects the gathering to help educational assessment bodies address how to deploy technology efficiently to improve the integrity of examinations.
“One thing that is crucial to us is how we can deploy technology in the conduct of Examination to ensure that the integrity of our certificates is not affected by the negative deployment of technology.
“I expect the issue of continuous deployment of technology for the conduct of examinations will be prominent. For us to be able to deliver on our mandate, innovation should be what we hold dear,” he said.
Adenipekun added that some firms like Cambridge Assessment International Education; Botosoft Technologies, and PRS would display technological products and services useful for assessment.
The HNO said already WAEC has registered interest in purchasing three magic scanners, PS 1,000, which would be on display at the conference. He said the machine, which can scan text into soft copy and store in the Cloud, would be displayed for the first time in Africa at the conference.
On WAEC’s level of preparedness for the conference, including the issue of security, Adenipekun said the Council’s experience conducting examination nationwide would be useful.
He added that WAEC was also working in partnership with other sister institutions in Nigeria to host a hitch-free event.
He also said efforts were being made to project what is good about Nigeria to the visitors during the conference.
“”We are an organisation whose activities cover all aspects of the country. We are aware of our responsibility to the nation and the delegates from across the globe. We take their security and comfort seriously.
This is an opportunity for us to market the positive aspects of Nigeria.
Cocktails, gala and cultural nights are a few number of events that have been planned for the evenings during the conference to help delegates unwind and relax.
A list of fascinating places for delegates to visit during the excursion and tours around the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja and its environs have been drawn.
The proposed tourist sites are Nike Art Gallery, Katampw Hill, the geographical centre of Nigeria, Ushafa Pottery, Lower Usman Dam, Guests Falls and Zuma Rock,” he said.
