Whose Readiness, Whose Reality? Decolonising the E-Assessment Agenda in Rural Higher Education

The rapid expansion of electronic assessment (e-assessment) in higher education is frequently presented as a pathway to innovation, efficiency, and improved learning outcomes. However, within rural higher education contexts, the shift towards digital assessment raises critical questions about whose interests these systems ultimately serve. This paper interrogates the growing e-assessment agenda through a decolonial lens, examining the tension between learning enhancement and digital surveillance. It argues that many e-assessment frameworks are underpinned by assumptions of technological readiness, reliable connectivity, and digital competence that do not reflect the lived realities of many rural institutions and their students. Furthermore, the increasing use of online proctoring, learning analytics, and artificial intelligence-driven monitoring risks transforming assessment from a pedagogical process into a mechanism of surveillance and control. Drawing on decolonial scholarship, digital justice perspectives, and literature on educational technology adoption, the paper contends that the challenge is not merely technological but epistemological and political. It calls for contextually responsive and socially just assessment approaches that prioritise learning, equity, and student dignity over compliance and monitoring. Ultimately, the paper questions whether current e-assessment practices are preparing students for learning or conditioning them for surveillance in digitally mediated educational environments.