COVID-19 has upended the 2020 school calender with schools only opening last month for the second and last month of the term. Finishing classes also have to complete their exams in a hurry so they can proceed either to college or Form 5 and Form One. The problem though is that exams are still ongoing even for Grade 7 students who would normally have already received their results by now so they can use these to look for Form One places.
So when will they get their results and when can they begin looking for places and more importantly when can they begin learning. We already know that school will resume on 4 January for everyone else and now the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE) has come up with a date. 9 February is the day when learning begins for Form Ones.
We recently issued statements to school heads regarding when schools will be opened.
I have submitted the calendar to Cabinet and I can tell you that by February all students will be in school.
Students in Grade One to Seven, Form Two up to Four and Upper Sixth learners will be back in school on January 4.
Form Fours sitting for their examinations will go back to school on January 5.
Form 1 (one) students will open on February 9 next year, this is to enable marking of their examinations and to ensure parents secure places for their children.
Lower Sixth students will have to wait for their O’Level results to be released.
Minister Mathema speaking to the Sunday Mail
There is always the looming danger of Covid 19 making a return and rubbishing these plans though. Already schools have reported hundreds of cases and unless some action is taken to curb this it’s only going to get worse.
