With only two months to the reopening of schools in January 2022, the Ministry of Education and Sports is yet to release a revised school calendar.
But available reports from officials at the ministry point to a phased reopening for schools, with some classes expected to report first while others may have to wait.
When schools finally reopen after almost two years of closure, the Ministry will be faced with herculean task of ensuring that learners recover lost time and progress to the next level.
To achieve this, the ministry is working on a condensed curriculum to focus on key priority themes and topics.
The other challenge will be the fact that learners in some classes such as Primary One have never stepped in school since March 2020.
Now, reports indicate that the ministry plans to give priority to learners in lower primary and semi-candidates, most of which have had less or no time in class.
In the primary school, first to report will be learners in Top Class, Primary One, Primary Two and Primary Three.
For lower secondary level, Senior One and Senior Two students will report first.
Also to be prioritized will be the semi-candidate classes of Primary Six, Senior Three and Senior Five. These are expected to become candidates and sit their end of level (PLE, UCE and UACE) exams.
For all these classes, the ministry of education and sports plans to undertake accelerated coverage of core curriculum topics so that they can progress to the next level.
The accelerated coverage of core curriculum topics is expected to last two months.
In those two months, some learners such as those in Primary Four and Five will have to wait for the start of the new academic year.
Thereafter, a new academic year will reportedly start, most likely at the start of March or April 2022.
Then fresher classes, Senior Five and Senior One (whose students sat UCE and PLE in 2021) will report with all the other classes.
For now, this leaked school calendar remains in draft format but The Pearl Times understands that the Ministry of Education and Sports is doing final touches on the condensed curriculum.
The curriculum will be released to schools in coming weeks and teachers oriented on how to handle the new changes that will see focus on core competencies.
The Ministry is also working around the clock to ensure that the official revised school calendar, clearly detailing reporting and holiday dates for all the classes.
