State cuts 2022 learning  calendar by four weeks

Schools will be forced to establish a crash programme to cover the syllabus following a reduction of the next academic year by four weeks.   

The 2022 schooling calendar, which starts in two weeks, will go down in history as one of the shortest ever in the country’s education history.

Unlike the 2021 calendar which was spread across 30 weeks, learners will be expected to cover the curriculum in just 26 weeks in the 2022 academic year.

A top Ministry of Education official said teachers will be forced to develop an elaborate schedule to cover as much as possible within the available time.

“Children will be in school for a very short time with so much to cover. Within the set time, there are weeks set for exams so this means an even shortened academic year,” said the official who cannot be identified because he is not the spokesperson. The official said it is even a tougher moment for the examination classes, comprising the 2022 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE), Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) and the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) Grade Six candidates.

The three classes are expected to sit their exams between the end of November and December.

In the revised calendar, developed to cover the nine-month break brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Term One starts on April 25 and ends on July 1. Despite the short period, there will still be a half-term break of three days running from May 26 -29.

A week-long holiday will run from July 2 to 10 and the second term will kick off on July 11 to September 16.

Second holiday

There will also be a mid-term break on August 11 to 14 while the second holiday for learners will be on September 17 to 25.

Third term will begin on September 26 up to November 25.

This will then pave way for the KCPE examination which is set to run from November 28 to December 1, while the KCSE examination will be conducted for three weeks from December 1 to December 23.

According to the schedule, KCSE marking will take place between January 2 to 20, next year.  “It is a tight education calendar for learners and teachers and this will require them to plan accordingly, not forgetting that this is also an election year,” added the official. Education Cabinet Secretary, Prof George Magoha, last week said the first Grade Six national assessment is to be administered in December. It is expected that this national assessment will account for 40 per cent of the candidate’s final mark while the remaining 60 per cent will come from the classroom teacher scores drawn from school-based assessments in Grade Four, Five and Six, said Magoha when he released the 2021 KCPE results.

The minister said the new testing is expected to emphasise on both formative and summative assessments, which will not only heavily reduce the cut-throat competition witnessed under the 8-4-4 system but also the incentives for cheating in examinations.

“I also wish to assure my successor that I have ensured that the Grade Six national assessment is ready and all that he or she will need is simply to oversee its administration,” said the CS.

It is also note worthy that the ministry allowed gradual resumption of internal co-curricular activities and guided inter-school contests, unlike in the last academic year when teachers used the time set aside for co-curricular activities to cover the syllabus.

Education Principal Secretary Dr Julius Jwan last year directed principals to engage learners in internal co-curricular activities and contests during the weekend and after classes.

“On October 18, the Ministry of Health recommended that inter-school sporting activities may gradually resume with strict adherence to the current guidelines prepared by the Ministry of Education. The initial focus should be on non-contact or low contact activities as guided in the protocols,” the PS said in a circular to regional, county and sub-county directors of education issued last November.