The start of the new school year has been pushed back by one week.
Minister of Education, Dr. Michael Dowlath, confirmed at today’s Post Cabinet Media Briefing that schools will now reopen on Monday September 8th 2025.
He sais the Cabinet approved the extension of the July/August vacation period by one week to help better balance the academic calendar, adding that no teaching time will be lost.
“The reason for this is that when we looked at the previous schedule, the first term would have had 15 weeks, the second term, 12 weeks, and the third term, 12 weeks. And what we did was to balance the distribution because, you know, the first term is normally the longest one and everybody gets burned out, the teachers and the students and the parents. And the total number of weeks for the first term, second term, and third term will be 39 weeks. So no teaching will be lost.”
The Education Minister said the repairs span Early Childhood Care Centres (ECCE), Primary, and Secondary schools.
“We’ll have this continuous eight-week period to ensure that we could complete the major infrastructural repairs and upgrades at the 278 educational institutions. I’m awaiting an update for this week, up to last week of the 278; 257 bill of quantities were received, 207 course reviews completed, 182 approvals from the Ministry of Education, EFPPD (Education Facilities Planning and Procurement Division) section was sent to the MTS (National Maintenance Training and Security Company Limited), and 79 contracts were awarded. And I expect by the end of this week, when I get an update, that these numbers will increase dramatically. So we are well on target.”
The Ministry’s Education Facilities Planning and Procurement Division (EFPPD) is working closely with the National Maintenance Training and Security Company Limited (MTS) to execute the projects.
Minister Dowlath said during this school vacation period, efforts will also be made to fill vacant positions in the Secondary School system, including Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) instructors and Principals.
“The Government has taken this bold step to reverse years of neglect of the TVET area and governance in schools. So today, the Cabinet has approved the hiring of 100 assistant instructors and these contract positions will be publicly advertised and the recruitment will begin immediately. This is a situation we have inherited as the present Government, and we are working quickly to ensure that this shortage of qualified TVET teachers is filled as quickly as possible. And so, as we move forward, we are also in collaboration with the Teaching Service Commission and the Teaching Service Commission has undertaken to avert that leadership crisis that exists, where 85 of the 125 secondary principal posts are vacant. And so, they are working to fill all of these vacancies over the vacation period.”