Improving the efficacy of Curriculum, Assessment and Certification at the pre-secondary education level in African education

Educational assessments and credentialing systems are part of all educationsystems. Both assessments and certification are central in every educationalsystem as they direct and legitimize the social and political goals of the educa- tion system. It is therefore in this context of acknowledging the power wieldedby assessments and certification systems that we have to understand their socialpurpose in order to understand their potential role in constructing an expandedsecondary schooling in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).This paper speaks to the inequalities and inefficiencies that have been createdby the schooling system in SSA. The highly selective system at the end of theprimary school system has created a very steep pyramid in the education system,which in many countries with a public mass education system is the thing ofthe past. Drawing from the experiences of education systems with mass educationthis (paper) points to the lessons that would be useful for SSA educationsystems. Suggestions are made in the (paper on how to improve the efficacy ofcurriculum, assessment and certification in the SSA school system in order toensure a seamless progression of students till they attain a minimum of 8- 9years of basic education