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Ministry of Education develops 3-year plan to harmonize school calendar

A candidate at St Martins Primary School in class. As learning resumes, candidates are not allowed to engage into co-curricular activities. Photo by Christopher Kisekka

📌 MIN OF EDUCATION GUIDELINES

✳ Terms of 12 weeks
✳ Holidays 15-17 days
✳ No start, mid-term & end of term exams
✳ 2021 academic year starts August 9
✳ 2022 academic year starts May 16
✳ 2023 academic year starts April 10
✳ 2023 shortest term, November 23 – December 22
✳ 2024 academic year starts February

The guidelines indicate that for as long as schools are still recovering lost time and content, there will be no beginning of term, mid-term, and end of term examinations

Kampala, Uganda | CHRISTOPHER KISEKKA – URN | The Ministry of Education and Sports has designed a three-year education institutions’ calendar that will guide schools to recover lost time and also harmonize the normal school calendar and academic year schedules.

Uganda’s academic year normally runs from February to November with the school calendar covering 260 days of curricula and co-curricular activities, assessment, and national examinations. Under this arrangement, the system leaves out 104 days for holidays.

However, due to the closure of schools as a safety measure to control the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) most of last year, the school calendar was affected and the ministry has been planning ways to adapt, and ensure continuity of learning.

New academic year starts August 9

Under the new school calendar, each term will be running for at least 12 weeks, with holidays fixed around 15 to 17 days. According to the schedule, the first term of the 2021 academic year will start on August 9, and end on October 29, 2021.

Learners will go for a fifteen-day holiday and return for the second term on November 15 studying up to February 4, 2022.

On February 22, 2022, the third term will begin and end on May 2 of the same year. On May 16, 2022, schools will reopen for the 2022 academic year with its first term ending on August 5, 2020.

The second term will start on September 22 and end on November 16, while the third term will start on January 7 and end on March 24, 2023.

The 2023 academic year will start on April 10 and its first term will be running up to June 30. The second term will then begin on July 17 ending on October 6 of the same year.

The shortest term of all will be the 2023 third term starting on November 23 up to December 22.

Back to normal in 2024

If all factors remain constant, the academic year will start following the known school calendar running from February to December starting from 2024.

The ministry notes that during the revised academic years, teachers will focus on recovering the lost curriculum content throughout education focusing on lower primary, upper primary, lower secondary, and upper secondary.

“While making efforts to ensure lost time, schools should avoid marathon lessons where learners are taught for long periods and other forms of overloading learning,” the guidelines issued read in part.  

The Education Ministry has also advised head-teachers to ensure that their respective teachers are oriented and sensitized on effective approaches and methods for accelerated but equitable learning that ensure that no learner is left behind.

The guidelines also indicate that for as long as schools are still recovering lost time and content, there will be no beginning of term, mid-term, and end of term examinations.

“Time usually spent on administering these examination sets shall be used to cover the syllabus. Assessment of learners shall be based on class exercises and class assignments,” the guidelines add.

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URN

8 comments

  1. This issue of taking students at a very high speed simply because you want mbu to recover the lost time quickly won’t work, this is education where you need to take students slow but sure. So this advice goes to all schools that are thinking of over pressurising students by giving them too much work with the aim of covering the syllabi quickly, my dear that won’t work instead just calm down and take students slow but sure. #umbrella for life

  2. Show the time for co curricular activities also.
    We need that planned for primary and secondary

  3. It’s good

  4. It would b better if u explained and showed when,and how d curent classes (p6,5,4,3)etc could promoted 2 d next class thks.

  5. How about our nursery kids who are still strounded at home without any program for them?

  6. Please let me know, is this calendar considering the whole classes or it is still in aphased Manor like before?if phased how shall we be doing it?

  7. How i wish Nursary learning had been incuded in the same calendar.There’s a difference between a child who has attended Bursary and the one who has not.

  8. Kaasim Abubakar

    Let d MOES involve implementers of d curr on how best schools can reopen as well as conduct safe learning in schools.consult widely at grassrot not at d ministry boardrooms.

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