A National E-assessment Implementation Framework: Assessing Readiness in Secondary Schools and Teacher Education in Tanzania

Abstract

Nearly every aspect of teaching and learning in the education sector has undergone a technological and pedagogical shift globally. The outburst of the COVID-19 pandemic and the digital advancements in recent years are two major factors that have geared and transformed the sector practically. Due to the rapid population growth and the fee-free education policy, candidate enrollment is constantly expanding, so it is crucial to devise an efficient, cost-effective, and secured approach for conducting educational assessments. This paper explores the possibilities of implementing a national e-assessment system for teacher education and secondary schools in Tanzania. Considering that the e-assessment philosophy is diverse, interdisciplinary, and multidimensional, a holistic research approach focused on library search, document review, and international benchmarking was applied. The e-assessment adoption framework and its design are based on expert opinion. The data used for theoretical and qualitative analysis was captured from the candidate and school registration portals. The study suggests that e-assessment in Tanzania is an inevitable part, especially in the educational system of the 21st century. More importantly, the findings show that e-assessment for teacher education appears to be more pressing as it can be deployed quickly given the computing status and educator readiness in teacher training colleges. For secondary education, e-assessment seems possible in about 6.4% of all schools that currently offer computer science as a subject. To facilitate a seamless adoption process and secure registration of examination centers, a national e-assessment framework is proposed. The framework is tailored to the local context as it applies adaptive staging, on-demand, and ready-to-go approaches to ensure the adopted solution is feasible and sustainable. Through this framework, you can tell whether certain schools are prepared to switch from conventional pen-and-paper exams to e-assessments.