Kenyan Learners Embrace 10-Week Holiday, Education Ministry Release New Term Dates

Schools are set to officially close on October 27, 2023 to pave way for national examinations and now the ministry has announced that learning will resume on January 8 2024 for the First Term.

Nairobi – Kenyan learners in primary, secondary, and teacher training colleges are in for an extended 10-week holiday as the Ministry of Education released the term dates for the upcoming academic year.

Schools are scheduled to officially close on October 27, 2023, paving the way for national examinations.

However, the Ministry of Education announced that learning will resume on January 8, 2024, for the First Term, offering students an extensive 72-day break, a considerable relief compared to the usual two-week breaks at the end of the first two terms.

The 2024 academic calendar marks a return to the regular calendar, following disruptions caused by the pandemic in 2020. The current academic year began on January 23, 2023, after national examinations extended into late December.

In 2021 and 2022, four school terms were squeezed into one calendar year to compensate for time lost during the 2020 lockdown.

The First Term in 2024 will span 13 weeks from January 8 to April 5. The April holiday will run for three weeks until April 26, leading to the commencement of the 14-week Second Term on April 29.

This term will conclude on August 2, with a three-week holiday until August 26, when schools will reopen for the final term of the year.

The shortest term, lasting nine weeks, will end on October 25, making way for national examinations. Both Term I and Term II will include a three-day half-term break.

Notably, next year, there will be no Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examinations, and the last 8-4-4 system cohort will leave primary school on November 2, 2023, after just two more weeks of school.

This year, the KCPE examinations are set to begin on October 30, 2023, alongside the Kenya Primary School Education Assessment for Grade 6 learners. These examinations will conclude on November 2, 2023.

The Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education candidates will commence their tests on November 3, 2023, and conclude on November 24, followed by the marking process from November 27 to December 15, 2023.

The Ministry’s decision to provide an extended holiday period aims to give students an opportunity to recharge and prepare for the upcoming academic year, which is expected to return to a more traditional schedule.