Guidance and Counselling and the Quest for Effective Continuous Assessment as A Tool for Functional Universal Basic Education (Ube) in Nigeria

Abstract

Continuous assessment is an aspect of educational assessment and at UBE level it is regarded as the key form of assessment. The concept, features and implementation strategies/operational modalities point to its efficacy in guaranteeing effective schooling if implemented with a good measure of professionalism. It was acknowledged that an appraisal of teacher education curriculum in Nigeria provides for appreciable understanding of the implementation of continuous assessment but that this has not been reflected in the quality of educational practice and that is partly why we have the problem of stay-ins. The role of Guidance and Counselling with emphasis on the counselling oriented attribute was examined and it was made clear that testing and non-testing techniques should be used with a view to promoting learning at all times. And that any tendency of use of test either at the level of item generation, test administration, measurement and interpretation to achieve any objective other than the development of the learner is antithetical to school practice.