Schools to Resume Normal Academic Calendar on January 8, 2024, After Covid-19

Three years after the COVID-19 disruption, schools will reopen on January 8 for the first term of next year.

Subsequent to the March 2020 emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in the nation, educational institutions were compelled to suspend learning for over six months in an effort to contain the disease’s transmission.

Yesterday, at Mitihani House in Nairobi, during the publication of the 2023 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) results, Basic Education Principal Secretary Kipsang expressed delight at the conclusion of the school crash program.

“With the start of the new academic year on January 8, 2024, we will return to the normal academic calendar.” “A schedule of occurrences following COVID-19,” stated Dr. Kispang.

He commended teachers for their diligent endeavors in sustaining educational progress amidst the pandemic.

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Dr. Kispang announced the reopening of schools on January 8, 2024, marking a return to the normal calendar after the disruptions caused by COVID-19.

 He expressed gratitude to the teachers for their dedication and hard work, especially during the previous year when the education system had to adapt to running four terms in a calendar year and conducting numerous examinations.

COVID-19 disrupted the academic calendar, which in some years led to double national examinations.

Subsequent to the initial report of COVID-19 in the nation on March 15, former President Uhuru Kenyatta declared the cessation of operations at all schools.

The late Prof. George Magoha, who was the Education Cabinet Secretary at the time, established an Education Taskforce Committee on COVID-19 with the objective of developing a novel academic calendar that would condense the school schedule.

Students in Grade 4, Standard 8, and Form Four started attending classes for the second and third terms of 2021 on October 12 and continued until December 23, while students in other grade levels started classes in January 2021, according to the academic calendar that Prof. Magoha released in September 2020.

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The academic year 2021 spanned seven months, from May to December, with the exception of a single-week hiatus from December 24 to January 4, 2022.

In April 2022, candidates in Form Four and Standard Eight took the KCSE and KCPE examinations, respectively.

Additionally, the Ministry of Education intended for the 2021 academic year to span from July to early 2022, with the expectation that it would return to its customary January-to-December structure in 2023.

The first term of a normal academic year typically consists of three months of instruction from January to March and one month off in April.

Term two would run from May to July, inclusive of an August holiday, whereas term three would commence in September and conclude in November, excluding a December holiday, with classes resuming in January.

Extended class times, the requirement for students and instructors to wear masks and frequently wash their hands, and social segregation policies in classrooms during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic all hindered learning.

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Prior to COVID-19, the duration of the third term was ten weeks, with the first and second terms each lasting fourteen weeks. This structure enabled Standard Eight and Form Four candidates to sit for national examinations in October and November, respectively.

Inter-school athletic competitions and half-term and second-term vacations, which span approximately four to five days, were ineligible for the students under the new schedule.

Parents felt the financial effects of the new calendar because the majority had lost their jobs and seen their businesses close as a result of the blackout.

The emergency program, designed to compensate for lost time and cover the curriculum, resulted in the suspension of approximately one to two weeks of instruction.

In June 2021, the revised schedule facilitated the advancement of every student to the subsequent class.

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In 2021, Standard Eight students transitioned to Form One, whereas Form Four students commenced their collegiate and tertiary educations in September.

Dr. Kipsang released a revised calendar for 2023 for pre-primary, primary, secondary, and postsecondary settings towards the end of January 2023. This calendar amendment was announced on November 7, 2022.

The Ministry specified in the academic calendar that the first term will commence on January 23, endure for a duration of 13 weeks, interrupted by a three-day midterm vacation from March 16 to 19, and conclude on April 22, 2023.

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Schools to Resume Normal Academic Calendar on January 8, 2024, After Covid-19