The Ministry of Education (MoE) after suspending the semester-based calendar for students in various government basic schools across the country has released a trimester academic calendar to be used in the 2022 academic year.
The suspension of the controversial 2-term system the General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Thomas Musah said will only make students exhausted follows a broader consultation with stakeholders.
In a statement copied to EducationWeb, the Education Ministry indicated the Ghana Education Service (GES) has been directed to run the traditional trimester system for all public basic schools across the country for this academic year.
“After further consultation, the Minister for Education has directed that the calendar for kindergarten to Junior High School for the current academic year should revert to a trimester system,” the release dated January 21, 2022, stated.
According to the new trimester calendar, basic school students in the first term of this academic year will commence academic activities from January 18, 2022, and be on vacation from April 15, 2022, to May 9, 2022.
For the second term of the 2022 academic year, prospective government basic school students across the country will reopen school on May 10, 2022, and be on vacation from August 19, 2022, to September 12, 2022.
Public basic school students after the second term break will reopen school on September 13, 2022, to commence academic activities for the third term and vacate on December 22, 2022. They will spend 14 weeks in school that term.
Education Think Tanks – Africa Education Watch (EduWatch) and the Institute for Education Studies (IFEST) following the revert of the 2022 school calendar from semester to trimester-based has commended the Minister for Education.
The Ghana National Council of Private Schools (GNACOPS) reacting to the changes in the 2022 academic calendar said the trimester system will ensure private and public basic schools have a uniform school system in the country.