ABSTRACT
Since the break up of the USSR, its former republics have seen the emergence and rapid expansion of an examinations industry that was, to all intents and purposes, unknown in Soviet times. New national assessment agencies have been established and been charged with, amongst other things, developing high-stakes exams to replace the diverse and unregulated selection tests formerly set by autonomous universities. Those responsible have had to balance the desire to produce assessment systems that promote better teaching and learning with the need to maintain the highest levels of security – especially given the great fear of corruption that persists in many former Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs). This paper describes the wide range of solutions that has emerged as a result of cultural differences, international influences, and, in particular, different levels of trust within societies. The paper also shows that in order to solve the problem of maintaining security whilst simultaneously promoting transparency, the young examining agencies of the former SSRs have adopted innovative technological solutions which may be of interest to some of the world’s ‘heritage’ examination boards.
