The Implementation of Continuous Assessment

The study sought to investigate the extend to which continuous assessment has been implemented in Social Studies, Grade 5-7 in the Windhoek Education Region, Namibia. In addition, the study tried to identify the problems encountered by teachers in implementing continuous assessment and how they have tried to overcome these problems.The instrument used to collect data was a questionnaire administered to 28 Social Studies teachers. Frequency tables were used to analyse the data. The results indicated that Social Studies teachers experienced a lot of problems. These problems ranged from lack of professional experience, no proper guidelines given to them, lack of in-service training to implement continuous assessment, inadequate time and duration of in-service training, inadequate assistance at ministerial as well as school level to mention but a few. The teachers also indicated the factors that hindered them from carrying out their tasks efficiently. These include learners not doing their homework, no funds available for purchasing adequate teaching and learning materials. The study also made some recommendations to improve the field.