Invigilator Training

Now I’m officially certified to be an IELTS Invigilator in addition to being a certified Clerical Marker.

This morning I hopped on the train at 8.05 to be downtown for 9.  Bow Valley College was giving another IELTS training session which my boss suggested I attend.  It was originally supposed to be from 9 to 12, but it ran over time to 2.15.  Luckily I can bank all this time and use it as time off work.  I think I have enough now banked to cover my day-and-a-half I need to to take off this month.  Plus I might be observing/participating in an actual exam come the 27th, which will probably add up to another 6h+ of banked time.

Now because I’ve signed confidentiality clauses, I can’t go into a lot of detail.  What I can say is that there is a truckload of security measures to follow (with incredibly high-tech equipment) and an equally huge amount of paperwork. Half of today was going through the duties of an invigilator and the other half was training (set out by the CSA) on how to detect fraud in documents and people.  Unbelievable!  The sheer tightness of security and the number of procedures to follow, let alone the number of people required to carry out all this, is astounding.  I doubt airport or border security is this tight. It was an eye-opener for me since I’ll, eventually, be the administrator at GEOS and will be responsible for making sure all this is executed efficiently and politely and to code.

After seeing the special devices needed to run an exam and the centre, I’ll need to compile a “shopping list” to submit to my superior.  He’s not going to be pleased.  He’s not known to be a big spender (you should see what it takes just to get a new white board marker from him). 😀 This list doesn’t even include wages for the assorted exam-day staff and miscellaneous.