Teachers’ Competency in Implementing Continuous Assessment in Basic Schools in Ekiti State

This study examines the competency of teachers in implementing continuous assessment in basic schools in Ekiti State, South West Nigeria. Continuous assessment is an integral component of Nigeria's basic education assessment framework, requiring teachers to systematically gather evidence of student learning across multiple assessment types throughout the term. Despite this policy requirement, implementation quality varies widely, with many teachers reducing continuous assessment to a single class test rather than a comprehensive and diversified evidence base. A descriptive survey design was adopted, with data from 200 teachers across 25 basic schools in Ado-Ekiti, Ikere, and Emure-Ekiti. Competency in continuous assessment was assessed using a structured teacher evaluation tool covering assessment design, recording practices, feedback quality, and use of assessment data for instructional planning. Descriptive statistics, t-test, and regression analysis were applied. Results reveal that while teachers have moderate awareness of continuous assessment requirements, implementation competency is significantly lower, particularly in assessment diversification and feedback quality. Teachers with fewer than five years of experience and those without post-secondary education qualifications showed the lowest competency scores. The study concludes that continuous assessment implementation in Ekiti State basic schools falls significantly short of policy requirements due to competency gaps. It recommends that the Ekiti State Universal Basic Education Board introduce a mandatory continuous assessment competency training programme for all serving basic school teachers and include CA implementation quality as a criterion in teacher performance appraisal.

Keywords: continuous assessment, teacher competency, basic school, Ekiti State, assessment implementation.