The Ministry of Education on Monday announced new opening dates for schools countrywide to give parents and students time to travel to their destinations after the Christmas/New Year festivities.
In circular dated December 24, 2018, the ministry has now pushed date for all primary, secondary and teachers training colleges by a day to January 3, 2019. Schools were scheduled to open on January 2, 2019.
“In order to allow time for learners and teachers who may have traveled to various places during the holiday season to return to their institutions, the opening day is rescheduled to 3rd January 2019,” reads the circular.
This comes even as the government is set to roll out the new school curriculum in January following public uproar over plans to push it to 2020.
Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed last week announced that the new curriculum pilot will continue for one more year to allow for alignment in teacher service training.
CS Amina stated that the stakeholders agreed to continue with the pilot programme and start training of tutors in teacher’s colleges on the new curriculum in January 2019 before rolling out in 2020.
The CS stated that her ministry will now commence a “methodical and carefully organised phased roll-out” of the Competency Based Curriculum (CBC) effective January 1, 2019 in pre-primary I and II as well as Grades 1, 2, and 3.
She added that the ministry would oversee the inauguration of a National Secretariat to steer the CBC, and that the development of an assessment framework for PP1 to Grade 3 as well as preparation of curriculum designs for Grade 4 will be done by March next year.