The hidden curriculum of assessment: How testing systems reproduce inequality in African education

Résumé

This paper interrogates the often-overlooked hidden curriculum embedded within assessment systems and examines how testing practices reproduce and legitimise inequality in African education contexts.Moving beyond conventional concerns with reliability and validity, the study advances a critical theoretical framework that conceptualises assessment as a socially situated practice shaped by language, culture, and power relations.Drawing on insights from critical theory and sociological perspectives on cultural capital, the paper argues that dominant assessment regimes privilege learners whose linguistic, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds align with institutional norms, while systematically disadvantaging those from marginalised communities.Synthesising existing literature on educational assessment, inequality, and development in Sub-Saharan Africa, the study demonstrates how high-stakes testing, language-ofinstruction policies, and standardised measurement practices function as mechanisms of exclusion.It further illuminates how these dynamics contribute to uneven educational outcomes, constrain human capital development, and reinforce broader patterns of social and regional inequality.By situating assessment within the wider discourse of regional development, the paper establishes a conceptual link between inequitable testing systems and constrained socio-economic progress.In response, it proposes a reorientation of assessment theory and practice towards equity-sensitive frameworks that recognise contextual diversity and promote inclusive measurement, calling for culturally responsive assessment designs, multilingual approaches, and policy reforms that place fairness at the centre of educational governance.The study contributes to ongoing debates on educational transformation in Africa by foregrounding assessment as a critical yet under-theorised site of the reproduction of inequality and systemic change.

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