Revised school calender extends academic year

After much debate, the terms of the new version of the calendar will see that schools resume on 24 August 2020, with as little as 156 actual school days for pupils. The Department of Basic Education (DBE) made the announcement on Saturday. In the previous announcement, Grade 12 pupils and teachers would only take a one-week break, returning to school on 3 August, while Grade 7 pupils would go back to class on August 10 after a two-week break.

“The department considered the impact of the decision on the current calendar. The policy process to amend the school calendar commenced considering the urgency of the matter as necessitated by the prevalent COVID-19 environment,” the statement read. In terms of the new version of the calendar, the teaching, learning and assessment for the 2020 academic year must be concluded by 15 December 2020 for Grades R to 11. Grade 12 examinations will be completed by this time, and the grading of papers will be wrapped up by January, and results released by 23 February 2021. The new school year will commence on 25 January 2021. Information published as stated by the DBE at time of publication