All qualified Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates who are being placed into senior high schools (SHSs) and technical and vocational institutions are expected to report to school on 20 February 2023.

This is part of the timetable the Ghana Education Service (GES) has released for the academic year for all SHSs and also basic schools.

The timetable comes ahead of the release of the placements by the Computerised Schools Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).

The SHS timetable is in two categories — that for schools under the double-track system and that for those that will run a single stream.
Double track

Under the double-track system, freshers are expected to report to school on February 20 and stay in school until April 13 when the first part of the first semester is expected to be over.

They will, however, be required to return to school on June 9, 2023 and stay until August 10, when they will take a second break.

The last lap of the first year begins on September 18 and ends on November 30, 2023, when the students would have completed the second semester of the first year.

For freshers going to schools running the single track, the timetable is slightly different.

For instance, even though they will report on the same day as their counterparts in the double-track schools, they will break on April 5, resume on April 17 and stay until September 15 when their academic calendar will end.

Meanwhile, Form Two students in the double-track system will head home on February 18 and return to school on April 11 till June 1, 2023 for yet another break.

They will be expected to return to school on August 14 until November 30, when the academic year will be over for them.

Meanwhile, their counterparts in the single track, who reported to school on the same date, January 10, will go home on April 6, resume on April 17 and remain until August 25, 2023, when the academic year will end for them.

Final-year students of both the double track and the single stream who reported to school on January 10 will take an 11-day break from April 6 to 16 and return to school on April 17 until June 1 for yet another seven-day break, before going back on June 9 until they complete writing the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) on September 15, 2023.

Transitional calendar

The academic calendar, described as a “transitional”, has been scheduled in such a way that there are two cohorts of students in school at any given time for the double-track schools.

Explaining, the Deputy Director-General of the GES in charge of Quality and Access, Dr Kwabena Bempah Tandoh, said the timetable was designed to ensure that over the years, “all students will complete a minimum of 3,134 hours, averaging 1,134 hours per year”.

On the calendar for kindergarten, primary and junior high schools (JHSs), the first term spans January 10 to March 24, while the second term begins from April 3 to June 15.

The third term begins from June 27 to September 14, 2023, while for JHS Three students, the third term begins from June 27 until the end of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), which will be written in September this year.
Directive

A letter signed and issued by Dr Tandoh to all regional directors of education asked them to ensure that all heads of basic and second-cycle schools in their respective regions took note of the calendar and complied accordingly to facilitate the smooth running of the academic year.

The letter, titled: “2023 Academic calendar for all Ghana Education Service schools”, wished all staff a successful and productive 2023.