SAAEA

The Southern Africa Association for Educational Assessment (SAAEA) was established primarily to provide a platform for assessment, curriculum development and research in education within the Southern Africa region. It is a confederation of nine (9) member countries; Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The main objectives of SAAEA are to:
    provide a forum for the exchange of best practices in assessment, curriculum development and research in education.
    promote co-operation among educational assessment agencies within the SADC region.
    encourage and facilitate dialogue and debate among member states and institutions concerning educational assessment issues.

There are three main governance structures that sustain the association; the Executive Committee (EXCO), the Research Forum and the Annual Conferences.

1.The Executive Committee

The executive Committee of SAAEA is responsible for the overall management, policy direction, control and general administration of all matters and affairs of the Association. It constitute all heads of national assessment bodies from the member states.

2.SAAEA Research Forum

This is a structure that supports SAAEA in executing its strategic plan. While SAAEA Executive Committee is the ‘think tank’ or the strategist of SAAEA, driving the strategy, the Research Forum is the hand that implements the strategy through fostering the regional and global linkages and collaborative relationships among researchers and education practitioners in the region. Tasks derived from the strategy are done in collaboration among Research Forum members where they share best practices and harmonise educational processes among member states in the sub region. The Forum usually meets on annual basis to execute, consolidate and finalise work on the various tasks. Some products include, but not limited to, Research Products, Guidelines and Plans for Continuous Professional Development (CPD).

3. Annual Conferences

Annual conferences are organised and hosted by member institutions on rotational basis. Member institutions are responsible for travel, board and lodging of their delegation. Attendance to annual conferences is usually extended to other relevant stakeholders within the Educational Sector. The choice of the conference theme is at the discretion of the host country.