The release of the 2022 academic calendars of Public Senior High Schools and basic schools in Ghana by the Ghana Education Service has generated heated discussions among teachers. Teachers think staying in school for 5/6 months is too much.
Teachers, students, and parents have reacted massively on social media where the document was shared. More than four hundred comments have been recorded, and the number keeps soaring. Again, teachers have expressed their dislike towards the calendar in the ongoing workshop centres in the country.
This morning, a report was received from a Learning workshop being organized for Basic 1-3 teachers in the Asante Akyim Central Municipality concerning the change of the academic calendar for basic schools.
Details of The Calendar
In case you have not seen the calendar, let me throw a bit of light on it for you. With the just released academic calendar, Basic Schools are spending a minimum of 5 months in school starting on January 18, 2022, ending on June 10, 2022.
Vacation starts on 10th June 2022 to July 25, 2022, for the first semester. Then the last semester begins on July 25, 2022, ending on December 16, 2022.
Following this, KG, Primary, and JHS are running the same calendar, and thus they will all begin the academic the same year and end on the same date unlike the previous one.
Issues Raised by Teachers
The foremost issue raised by some teachers is that the calendar failed to give the exact date for the writing BECE. Some have therefore concluded that there would be no BECE this year, since the calendar didn't mention it.
Secondly, the number of weeks or months to be spent in school have increased from 3/4 months to 5/6 months, something that many people think it's outrageous for primary school kids and as well as exploiting teachers.
Thirdly, teachers are worried that in the long absence of educational materials which include textbooks, teaching learning resources, what are they going to use to teach learners.
By BricyBoateng (Self-Media Writer)
