17 Sept: From High-Stakes to Formative: Malaysia's Assessment Balancing Act

In this week's episode, Tim Burnett chats with Dr Shafiza Mohamed, Exams Officer and Head of Assessment Innovations at the Malaysian Examinations Council (MEC). They discuss: Why Malaysia is shifting from high-stakes summative examinations towards more formative, teacher-led assessment — and how parents and society are responding to that change How AI and digital literacy skills need to be woven into assessment itself, and whether chatbots could one day feature in high-stakes exams The challenges of moving school-level exams from paper to digital across Malaysia's urban and rural communities — and why human proctors still matter even as AI enters the picture Dr Shafiza shares her passion for assessment innovation and explains how Malaysia is navigating the tension between a culture that values high-stakes examinations and a global shift towards formative assessment. She draws an analogy between AI and the calculator — a tool that cannot be avoided and must instead be used meaningfully and ethically. The conversation also explores assessment security, data privacy, the importance of fair access to technology, and what delegates can look forward to at the Asia ATP Annual Conference 2026 in Kuala Lumpur. Asia ATP Annual Conference 2026 (1–3 November, Kuala Lumpur): https://a-atp.eventlinx.hk/2026/ IAEA 2026 Conference: https://iaea2026.org/ Connect with Dr Shafiza Mohamed on LinkedIn:   / shafiza-mohamed-70084738   Connect with Tim Burnett on LinkedIn:   / tburnett   If you would like to join Tim on a future episode or sponsor the Test Community Network then get in touch with Tim to schedule a call: https://calendly.com/educationtech/15... Events: https://www.testcommunity.network/upc... Podcasts: https://www.testcommunity.network/pod... Marketplace: https://www.testcommunity.network/mar... Subscribe to the Test Community Network here: https://www.testcommunity.network 🎙️ New to streaming or looking to level up? Check out StreamYard and get $10 discount! 😍 https://streamyard.com/pal/d/57805973...