Eduwatch concerned about the difficult to understand 2023/24 SHS calendar after its release by the Ghana Education Service (GES).
Following the introduction of the Senior High School calendar for the 2023/2024 academic year, Africa Education Watch (EduWatch) stated that the SHS calendar will require a lot of explanation for parents to grasp.
The students themselves are not clear in their minds as to when they will report to school. Some have contacted the Education Blog team to seek clarifications on the time table.
In response to the calendar, Kofi Asare, director of the education think tank, stated that it was inappropriate for Form Two students under the transitional calendar to report to school on March 8, 2024, when Form One students under the single track calendar would have begun their academic year today, November 1, 2023.
“Under the transition calendar, they (Form Two students) would begin their academic year in March next year, whereas those on the single track begin theirs next month,” the Education Watch Director told the Daily Graphic.
He stated that Form One pupils might return to school in December since the 2023 BECE results would be due in two weeks, following which they would be announced and the kids put in their preferred schools.
According to Kofi Asare, there were distinct dates for the completion of the academic year for Form Three students under both calendars. He was perplexed as to why the school year for the single and double tracks concluded on separate days.
Further explaining, an Africa Education Watch (EduWatch) representative stated that first-year Free Senior High School (SHS) students would spend more days in school than at home, which was a positive thing.
According to the Ghana Education Service’s 2023/2024 Senior High School academic calendar, first-year senior high school students who are awaiting the results of their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) will return to school on December 4, 2023.
Students from SHS 1
Form One students will be at school from December 4, 2023 to March 5, 2024, according to the transitional schedule for double-track kids. They will, however, return to school on May 13, 2024, and will remain there until July 9, 2024.
They will be closed again on July 10, 2024, and will return on September 3 until the end of the school year on November 15, 2024.
Single-track learners, on the other hand, will report to school from December 4 to March 15, 2024, and will be on vacation from March 16, 2024 to May 2, 2024. The second semester will begin on May 3, 2024, and will go until August 28, 2024, when the academic year will come to a finish.
Students from SHS 2 and 3
Students in Forms Two and Three will go to from November 1 until March 5, 2024, and then begin the conclusion of the first semester holiday from March 6 to May 2, 2024.
They will return to school on May 3, 2024, to begin the second semester and will finish the academic year on August 28, 2024.
Form Two learners under the double track system, on the other hand, will have to wait until March 8, 2024, to begin the first semester and until May 9, 2024, to conclude the semester.
The second semester will begin on July 12, 2024, and will go until November 15, 2024, when the academic year will complete.
It is worth noting that the Christmas break will take place between December 21, 2023, and January 2, 2024, while the Easter break will take place between March 29 and April 16, 2024.
READ: See 2023/2024 SHS academic calendar; SHS1 students to report Dec. 4
Students in SHS 3 who are on two tracks
Form Three students on the double track will similarly begin their first semester on January 3, 2024, and will conclude it on March 28, 2024. Their second semester begins on April 17, 2024 and ends on August 23, 2024.
The first semester for Form Three pupils under the single-track system begins today, November 1, 2023, and finishes on March 5, 2024, while the second semester runs from May 3, 2024, to August 28, 2024, when they will graduate.
Do you agree that the 2023/24 SHS calendar is difficult to understand? Leave your comment on the post.