The Ghana Education Service (GES) has released the 2023/2024 academic calendar for pre-tertiary institutions in the country, including senior high schools (SHS).
The calendar outlines the schedules for different categories of students under both single and double-track systems. Here are the key details:
Form One Students (Transitional Calendar for Double-Track Students):
- School Year 1: Students will be in school from December 4, 2023, to March 5, 2024.
- School Year 2: They will return to school on May 13, 2024, until July 9, 2024.
- School Year 3: They will go on break on July 10, 2024, and reopen on September 3, up to November 15, 2024.
Form One Students (Single-Track):
- School Year 1: Students will be in school from December 4, 2023, to March 15, 2024.
- School Year 2: The second semester will begin on May 3, 2024, until August 28, 2024.
Form Two Students (Single-Track):
- School Year 1: Students will report to school today, November 1, and continue until March 5, 2024.
- School Year 2: The second semester will begin from May 3, 2024, until August 28, 2024.
Form Two Students (Double-Track):
- School Year 1: Students will start on March 8, 2024, and end the semester on May 9, 2024.
- School Year 2: The second semester for Form Two double-track students will begin on July 12, 2024, and end on November 15, 2024.
Form Three Students (Single-Track):
- School Year 1: The first semester will begin today, November 1, 2023, and end on March 5, 2024.
- School Year 2: The second semester will be from May 3, 2024, to August 28, 2024.
Form Three Students (Double-Track):
- School Year 1: The first semester will start on January 3, 2024, to March 28, 2024.
- School Year 2: The second semester will run from April 17 until August 23, 2024.
The academic calendar also includes details for basic schools, which will have three terms with specific break periods. The total contact weeks for these students will be 39 weeks.
While the Director-General of GES, Dr Eric Nkansah, assures the feasibility of the calendar, some stakeholders, including Kofi Asare, Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, expressed the need for clear explanations to help parents understand the schedule.
Christian Yaw Adinkra, Chairman of the Madina, Abokobi, Adenta District of the Ghana National Association of Teachers, questioned the practicality of the schedule, particularly for Form One students reporting in December.