The Pacific Community’s (SPC) Educational Quality and Assessment Programme (EQAP) successfully hosted the annual Examiners’ and Moderators’ training on 15th and 22nd February 2025 in Suva, Fiji. The training served as a critical preparatory step for national and regional assessment personnel, ensuring the development of high-quality examination papers for the new academic year.
A total of 65 participants, including new and experienced examiners and moderators, took part in the training. The training was a mandatory requirement for all selected examiners and moderators before the commencement of the new exam cycle. It provided participants with a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities, discussed challenges encountered in previous exam cycles, and identified strategies to ensure the overall quality of assessment instruments this year.
As part of SPC’s commitment to improving educational assessments across the Pacific, the training incorporated insights from the Micro-Qualification in Assessment Instrument Development, a regional initiative developed to meet the existing need for relevant and current educational assessment instruments that are tailor-made for the Pacific region.
A key component of the training was reviewing Item Analysis reports generated using the Rasch Unidimensional Measurement Models (RUMM) from the 2024 South Pacific Form Seven Certificate (SPFSC) exams. These reports provided insights into the performance of exam questions, which helped participants identify items that could be improved.
Participants used their professional judgment to suggest ways to refine the identified exam items and engaged in subject-specific discussions to ensure the quality of the assessment.
Amitesh Chandra, the Principal Officer – Examinations and Assessment at the Fiji Ministry of Education, said the workshop provided practical tools to identify and reduce bias in assessments. Reflecting on the training, he noted that it “helped me have more objective and data-driven analysis of assessment results, which will assist me to improve (assessment) items. It facilitated the development of valid and reliable assessments that accurately measure student learning,” he said.
By the end of the workshop, attendees had gained a deeper understanding of their roles in exam development and moderation, improved their ability to interpret item analysis reports, and strengthened their proficiency in applying the SOLO taxonomy —a framework that helps structure assessment items based on increasing levels of complexity— to design high-quality assessments. They also explored strategies to eliminate errors and bias in examination papers and discussed key considerations for developing effective scoring rubrics.
The training also offered practical strategies for refining assessment items.
Flora Bentley, a Learning Designer at the Fiji National University, noted how the workshop clarified assessment standards and common pitfalls in question design. “This is crucial for maintaining fairness, reliability, and a high-quality assessment that accurately reflects student learning. Moving forward, I will apply a more critical lens to question design, ensure fair and unbiased assessment items, and use feedback to continuously improve exam quality,” she said.
By ensuring that all exam personnel are well-trained and up-to-date with best practices, EQAP continues to uphold high standards in regional and national assessments, supporting the achievement of SDG 4: Quality Education for Pacific students. This training will ensure that examiners and moderators are well-prepared to develop high-quality assessment instruments and can successfully develop, moderate, and/or score national and regional assessments for 2025.
