RIMYI organised a Certification Meeting conducted in Pune over 3 days from 30 November to 2 December 2015.
The purpose of the meeting essentially was a fact-finding one, to help the Iyengar family familiarise themselves with both the functioning of the Certification process throughout the international Iyengar community and to help identify and address the various problems faced by member countries in meeting their certification responsibilities.
The meeting was attended by representatives at a senior level from participating countries. Representatives were nominated by their member countries, with RIMYI also making it possible for additional representatives to attend, where that was considered necessary or desirable.
Australia was represented by its entire Certification Committee at that time (Chair Peter Thomson along with Glenn Ceresoli, Marina Jung, Peter Scott and Pixie Lillas). Additional Australian attendees were John Leebold, Alan Goode and Kay Parry.
The meeting was a first of its kind in which the views of all member associations were actively sought by RIMYI as to the functioning of certification matters across the international spectrum. It was clear that both Geeta and Prashant Iyengar were keen to hear first hand what the situations were in these various countries and welcomed input and suggestions as to what was working and what needed to change.
Of course this was simply the first step in what is inevitably likely to be a long organic process. Nevertheless I think it was fair to say that representatives were most grateful for this opportunity to express their positions clearly and without inhibition to the Iyengars. This was widely seen to be a welcome initiative offering much optimism for the future.
From our position as representatives of the Australian community, the Pune meeting brought about much consideration and discussion around Certification functioning in Australia and both its strengths and weaknesses. It also supported considerable solidarity around the Australian representatives at the meeting. It was clear at the meeting that certification practice in Australia had evolved in somewhat distinct ways; ways which attracted much favorable comment and appreciation from other countries and indeed from the Iyengars themselves.
Particularly notable was the emphasis in Australia on collective responsibility and representation at senior levels around certification matters and, as a consequence, the importance that we attached to collective assessment decision-making through our ‘jury’ (assessors voting on outcomes) approach. This approach contrasted with the more ‘objective’ approaches taken in other countries with the sort of community cohesion problems arising as a consequence of that approach.
Australia’s approach was well received in many quarters including by Geeta herself.
