Gov’t Backtracks On Controversial Semester-Based Academic Calendar For Basic Schools

It made the announcement in a statement on Friday, January 21, 2022.

The directive for basic schools including Kindergarten, and Junior High School to change the trimester-based calendar to a semester-based one last week, was received with controversy with many teacher unions kicking against it.

Many of them were unenthused that the government had not engaged them on such a major switch although the government insisted that it had held extensive consultations with them.

Some of the education workers vowed to resist the directive and called for its withdrawal.

After hesitating initially, the government has now decided to reverse the decision.

The Ministry of Education in the statement indicated that the decision was taken after engagements with various education stakeholders and the conclusion was to reinstate the trimester system.

“The Minister has received representation from a section of the public and key educational stakeholders to reinstate the Trimester system… Any further consultation on the issue, the Honourable Minister for Education has directed that the calendar for Kindergarten to Junior High School for the current academic year should revert to the Trimester system,” the statement said.

Consequently, the first term starts on January 18 to 14th April, 2022.

The second term commences 10th May and ends on 18th August, 2022, while the third term will span 13th September to 22nd December, 2022.

Read the Ministry of Education’s statement below: