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Received: 2026-05-20 | Accepted: 2026-07-18 | Published: 2026-09-30

Title

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

Abstract

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-of- instruction 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.

Keywords

hidden curriculum, educational assessment, inequality, African education, cultural capital, equity, high-stakes testing, regional development, culturally responsive assessment, Sub-Saharan Africa

JEL classifications

I24 , I25

URI

http://jssidoi.org/ird/article/271

DOI

DOI 10.70132/c6253342763

Pages

115-129

Funding

Acknowledgements. The authors gratefully acknowledge the scholars whose empirical and theoretical work informs this synthesis, and the journal reviewers whose constructive engagement will strengthen the published version of this paper. No external funding was received for this research.

This is an open access issue and all published articles are licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Authors

Kpum, Moses Mhide

University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa https://www.unisa.ac.za

Articles by this author in: CrossRef | Google Scholar

Journal title

Insights into Regional Development

Volume

Number

Issue date

September 2026

Issue DOI

DOI 10.70132/j7356948637

ISSN

ISSN 2345-0282 (online)

Publisher

VšĮ Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, Vilnius, Lithuania

Cited

Article views & downloads

HTML views: 112 | PDF downloads: 94

References

Alidou, H., Boly, A., Brock-Utne, B., Diallo, Y.S., Heugh, K. & Wolff, H.E. (2006). Optimising learning and education in Africa - the language factor: a stock-taking research on mother tongue and bilingual education in Sub-Saharan Africa http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/6650