Highlights of the 9th SACMEQ Assembly of Ministers
SACMEQ Research Medals are awarded on a biennial basis to persons, organizations, or institutions deemed to have made outstanding contributions to SACMEQ’s research and training programmes. The 9th Assembly of Ministers awarded the 2013 Medals to the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Zimbabwe and Mr Jacques Hallack who is a former IIEP Director. The respective citations that were read during the awards are as follows:
Ministry of Education (Republic of Zimbabwe); In 1989 Zimbabwe Ministry of Education and Culture initiated a major research and training project (the “Indicators of the Quality of Education Study”) in Zimbabwe during 1990 in order to (a) assess the quality of education provided by Zimbabwe’s primary schools, (b) involve the staff of the Ministry’s Planning Unit in integrated research and training activities, and (c) provide meaningful advice related to policy concerns expressed by senior Ministry decision-makers. The experience from this research project resulted in a dialogue that eventually resulted in the preparation of a proposal that would address these important research and training challenges via the establishment of an association of Ministries of Education known as SACMEQ (the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality). SACMEQ was registered in Zimbabwe in 1997.
Jacques Hallack (IIEP former Director); Mr Jacques Hallack is a former IIEP Director, from 1988 to 1999. As the director for IIEP then, he led a team of professionals who guided the implementation of a major research and training project (the “Indicators of the Quality of Education Study”) in Zimbabwe in response to the request from Zimbabwe Ministry of Education and Culture. The team used the experience drawn from this project to encourage and guide other countries in the region to replicate the study in their respective countries and eventually the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) was established in 1995.