By Bida Elly David
National Ministry of General Education and Instruction has released the 2024 academic calendar and schools will open on February 5th, , and end on 20th December, this year.
According to the Education Ministry, schools in the country will now operate normally in the academic year 2024 after the COVID-19 interruption.
In the academic calendar, learners will go to school five days a week, from Monday to Friday while public holidays and the school year, will be observed.
The Ministry stated that all learners will undergo examinations at the end of each term, and first term begins on Monday, 5th February.
Meanwhile, Friday10th May, will mark the end of first term after completion of 67 instruction days.
“There will be two-week breaks, from Saturday 11th May and end on Friday the 24th May 2024,” the school calendar reads.
The Education Ministry further stated that term 2 will begin on Monday the 27th of May 2024 and end on Friday the 6th of September, 2024 with 71 instructional days.
There will be two-week breaks between Saturday the 7th of September, 2024, and ends on Friday the 22nd of September, 2024.
Term 3 will begin on Monday the 23rd of September 2024 and end on Friday the 20th of December 2024 with 65 instruction days.
Candidate P.8 and S.4 classes will undertake their final examinations in November-December 2024 and the Examination calendar for Candidate classes will be published separately.
In the guidelines, the Ministry recommended that class sizes for Pre-primary, Primary, and secondary should be based minimum standard of twenty (20) learners in Pre-primary class, fifty (50) learners in primary class, and forty-five (45) learners in secondary class.
It added that classes larger than 50 learners in Primary or 45 learners in Secondary must be divided into streams of up to 50/45 learners to maintain quality of learning and physical distancing of the learners in each classroom while learners more than 20 in each Pre-primary classroom must be divided into streams.
The Ministry said learners with disabilities and functional difficulties have the right and shall be permitted to register in a school of their choice.
The Ministry further urged school staff, including teachers, mentors, and parents, to prioritize the psychological needs of students returning to school due to distress.
School administrators are also encouraged to implement a zero-tolerance policy and child-friendly strategies for reporting and addressing bullying, corporal punishment, gender-based violence, and discrimination.
“All school-based violence is condemned, and students are encouraged to be mentored and supported to stop bullying behaviors,” the directive reads in part.
Meanwhile, teachers are prohibited from using corporal punishment or any form of violence, discrimination, or intimidation.