There has been a lot of confusion when it comes to when schools will reopen in 2021. We know for certain that schools are going to close for the holidays on the 18 of December 2020 i.e next week at the time of writing this. Those who are writing examinations will also take a break but they will then have to come back next year to resume writing examinations. This left the question of when those who are not writing would return back to school.
Other publications claimed that there would be a phased approach to reopening with those who are writing coming back first. Now the government has come out and said this is not true. Everyone is going to come back on 4 January:
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education would like to set the record straight that schools will open on 4 January 2021 and not in a phased approach as has been announced on Sunday by one news report.
Schools will open on 4 January and secondary school classes opening are Form Two, Three, Four and Six.
This essentially now means that there will be two forms four and six streams in each school. The older stream will be writing examinations during this period while the younger stream will be starting their final year. Will schools have enough resources to handle this scenario? Probably not. There will be a lot of confusion and chaos in schools if this arrangement is followed. There is also the matter of Form Ones who will only be able to go back to school after results have come out.
