The government has announced changes to the dates for the August 2024 holiday school classes. The new schedule will be from August 9 to August 22, instead of the previously announced August 19 to August 30, reported the Chronicle.
This revised calendar means that when schools close for the Second Term on August 8, public examination-sitting classes – including Grade 7, Form 4, and Form 6 students – will continue with lessons until August 22.
The changes were confirmed by the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Mike Mhike, in a statement sent to educational authorities across the country.
According to Mhike, the new holiday school calendar will enable the Ministry to conduct more effective supervision and oversight of schools during this critical examination preparation period. He said:
Following the release of the Secretary’s Circular Number 6 of 2024 on the above subject matter and the engagements that followed thereafter, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education informs that the Vacation School for August holidays will run from 9 August to 22 August for all schools. The timeframe of 19th to 30 August as given earlier, is cancelled.
The rest of the Secretary’s Circular Number 6 of 2024 content remains the same. The decision taken to this effect will allow Grade 7, Form Four and Upper Six pupils to continue with learning while the rest of the grades and forms close schools on the 8th of August 2024.
Mhike also said that the latest decision will reduce the travel costs that boarders would have faced under the previous vacation school calendar.
He added that the new dates will enable the inspectorate to monitor vacation schools within a standardised timeframe for all institutions.
Mhike said the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education reserves the right to further revise this statement.
The fees for these vacation lessons were set at the following rates per subject (in US dollars): Grade 7 – $2, Form 4 – $3, and Form 6 – $5. Boarding students will be required to pay an extra $4 per day.
However, parents are allowed to pay in the currency of their choice.
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