2022 Basic school academic year: trimester system stays
The Ministry of Education has reinstated the trimester educational calendar for basic schools, kindergarten, primary and junior high school (JHS) levels.
The ministry explained that the reversal from the proposed semester calendar was a result of further consultations on the issue, following teacher unions and public outcry over the decision to introduce the semester system at the basic level.
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“After further consultations on the issue, the Minister of Education has directed that the calendar for kindergarten to junior high school for the current academic year should revert to the trimester system,” a statement signed by the Press Secretary to the Minister of Education, Mr Felix Baidoo, said.
Dates
It gave the date for the first term as January 18 to April 14, 2022 (12 weeks) and the vacation period from April 15 to May 9, 2022.
The second term, which will be for 14 weeks, will run from May 10 to August 18, this year, while the vacation would be from August 19 to September 12, 2022.
For the third term, it will be from September 13 - December 22, 2022.
“It may be recalled that the Ministerial Committee on School Calendar issued a calendar for the current academic year indicating that kindergarten to junior high school was to be based on the semester system.
“Following the directives to commence the semester system, the ministry has received representation from a section of the public and key educational stakeholders to reinstate the trimester system,” the statement said.
Intervention
In an interview, the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, explained that he had to step in because the ministry would always put the interest of children first and whatever would support teachers to do their work, while allowing the Ghana Education Service (GES) to perform its supervisory role.
“The ministry is always looking out for ways for teachers to do their work and for the GES to always perform its overall supervisory role,” he said.
The minister said for now, the belief was that there should be harmony in the education sector to bring about improved student learning outcomes.
“The vehicle for it can be a trimester or semester but the most important thing is working together to improve learning outcomes,” Dr Adutwum added.
Diploma teachers
Meanwhile, a section of teachers who are currently pursuing degree top-up programmes with the Institute of Education of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) have described the reversal of the academic calendar from the semester to the trimester as inimical to professional development of teachers.
They said even though, in principle, the teacher unions were against the semester system, they believed that it would have helped those with diplomas who wanted to pursue the top-up programme without any interruptions to their engagements in their schools.
The teachers said most of those participating in the programme were having issues with the regional and district directors because at the time the programme was in session, basic schools had not gone on vacation.
The teachers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, were sharing their frustrations with the Daily Graphic after the ministerial reversal of the academic calendar.
Upgrade of colleges of education
In 2018, a directive was issued that all colleges of education be upgraded to university colleges and that the entry requirement to teach in public sector schools is a first degree.
Following that directive, an understanding was reached in 2020 among the Ghana Education Service (GES), the various teacher unions and the Institute of Education of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) to run a three-semester top-up degree programme for all diploma teachers to also get a degree. The first cohort started in 2020/2021 academic year.
The programme begins in June and ends in July, when the university is normally on vacation.
GES
When contacted, a source at the GES explained that it was still working out the details of the minister’s directive with the unions.
It, however, said the expectation was that the semester system would help the teachers to pursue the programme without necessarily disrupting the academic calendar of the basic schools.
The source said ordinarily, the programme was a better option for many teachers compared with 3,000 teachers who obtained study leave annually.
The source said with the reversal from the semester to trimester, the GES, the teacher unions and the UCC would have to go back to the drawing board, “as GES will not allow teachers to leave the classrooms for the programme.”
Unions
Last Monday, the four teacher unions called on the GES to withdraw the entire semester system at the pre-tertiary level for wider consultations with stakeholders before implementation.
The unions comprise the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Coalition of Concerned Teachers-Ghana (CCTGh), and the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU).
According to the unions, the unilateral change in the school calendar from the trimester system to the semester system was arbitrary and an imposition on the major stakeholders in education, of which the unions were a part.
A stakeholders’ dialogue on the implementation of the semester educational system at the pre-tertiary level between the GES and the unions ended in a deadlock.
While the unions insisted that the semester system should be withdrawn, the GES thought it should be maintained.
