Continuous Assessment in Swaziland: the Predictable Fate of Western Innovation in Africa

Yale political scientist James Scott has distinguished himself as a leading scholar on issues related to the imposition of Western ideas in non-Western countries. In Seeing Like a State (1998) he explains how developing countries latch on to key institutional innovations from the developed world, assuming that the implementation of these ideas will yield the prosperity they sorely lack. And developed nations, seeking to increase the purchasing power of potential trade partners, are all too ready to help with the export of innovations using the same logic. The flaw in the logic, according to Scott, is that the success or failure of institutional innovation hinges on the ability and willingness of individuals to carry them out. What follows is a kind of case study of one Western educational innovation, continuous assessment, in one non-Western country, Swaziland. It is an attempt to ?see like a state? with respect to the possibility of educational improvement and any prosperity it might bring to Swaziland. Regrettably, the results of this study lend credence to Scott?s thesis.