GES explains new 2023 basic, SHS calendars as school reopen

After postponing the 2023 school reopening from January 9, 2022, to Tuesday, January 10, 2023, amid a statutory holiday, the Ghana Education Service has explained in detail the 2023 academic calendars for basic and Senior High Schools.

Unlike previous years when the school academic year began in September, this year’s academic year will commence in January amid the outbreak of the novel global coronavirus (Covid-19) that disrupted academic activities in March 2020.

According to the calendar sighted by AcademicWeek, a double-track will not be run at the Senior High School level, thus only two-year groups of the three cohorts of students will be in school at any given time for the academic year.

For the third-year public Senior High School (SHS) students, the 2023 academic calendar an official of the Ghana Education Service has said it tentatively stated they reopen school from January 10 to February 17, 2023.

Prospective second-cycle students, the 2023 academic calendar indicated will break for academic activities from February 18, 2023, to March 12, 2023, and go back to school from March 13 to June 2 to end the first semester.

“They will break from June 3, 2023, to June 18, 2023, and then go back to school for the second semester from June 19, 2023, to September 28, 2023,” the provisional 2023 academic year calendar for Senior High Schools (SHSs) stated.

For second-year Senior High School students, the Ministry of Education calendar said they will be in school from January 10 to March 9, this year to start the first semester and then break from March 10 to April 21, 2023.

“They will go back to school from April 24, 2023, to June 2, 2023, and then break from June 3 to August 6, 2023, for the first-semester vacation. The second semester will be from August 7 to December 22, this year,” the calendar noted.

For first-year Senior High School students, the provisional 2023 academic calendar said they would report to school for the first semester from February 20, 2023, to April 21, 2023, and then break from April 22 to June 18, 2023.

“The students will return to school from June 19 to August 4 to wrap up the semester and then break from August 5 to October 1, 2023. The second semester will commence from October 2 to December 22, 2023,” the MoE calendar said.

Single-track SHS calendar

For single-track schools, third-year students will report to school from January 10 to May 11, 2023, and then go on break from May 12 to June 2, 2023. They will report to school from June 5 to September 29 to write 2023 WASSSCE.

Second-year students will also be in school from January 10 to May 11, 2023, break from May 12 to June 2 and then go back to school for the second semester from June 5 to October 9, 2023.

For first-year students, they will be in school from January 20, 2023, to May 11, 2023, break from May 12 to June 2 and return to school for the second semester from June 5 to November 10, 2023.

Basic school calendar

At the basic school level, the 2023 basic school calendar said pupils will go to school for the first term from January 10 to April 20, 2023 (14 weeks) and break from April 21 to May 1, 2023.

The second term resumes from May 2 to August 9, 2023, and then breaks from August 10 to August 21, 2023. The third term will be from August 22 to November 16, 2023.

Chairman of the GES, Micheal Nsowah explaining why two cohorts of prospective students will be in school at a time to the Daily Graphic said the 2023 school calendar is provisional and subject to changes should the need be.

“There had been an increase in student population in a good number of schools and so allowing all three cohorts at a time could bring about congestion and its consequences,” the GES staff told the newspaper in an interview.

Citing that the new method will lessen pressure on teachers he also said allowing two cohorts to be in school at a time, he said, did not mean that students would be short-changed and that by that system they would be doing more hours.

“All things being equal, this is how it is going to be; if anything happens, that will call for a change but the Ghana Education Service (GES) hoped that nothing would happen to bring about a change,” Mr Nsowah told Graphic.