8th IAEA Webinar: The Tension Between Maintenance of Standards and Empathy During the Era of COVID-19

Monday, September 13, 2021, at 14:00 (2:00 pm) Central European Summer Time, Dr. Mafu Rakometsi from Umalusi, South Africa will present on the following topic: The Tension Between Maintenance of Standards and Empathy During the Era of COVID-19.

Summary:
The presentation begins with the context within which Umalusi performs its quality assurance function. It then provides a broad review of how the public perceive the process. The empirical basis of the presentation is an analysis of the media commentary on standardization, especially during the era of COVID-19. This is done by way of thematising the salient points raised over the last three years (2017-2019) prior to the onset of COVID-19 in South Africa and reports on national examinations administered in 2020, the first year of COVID-19. A connection is made between the media reportage of Umalusi’s quality assurance processes and the unhealthy resultant tension caused by misrepresentation of facts leading to misinformation and misguided public commentary. In its conclusion, the presentation offers suggestions on how to mitigate such unhealthy tensions.

The presentation will take place via Zoom,
If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Mary Pitoniak, IAEA Board Member, at mpitoniak@ets.org.