The Ministry of Education on Tuesday, October 13, announced the school calendar for the year 2020-2021. The calendar comes weeks after the Government resolved to reopen schools gradually with adherence to Covid-19 preventive measures, after nearly six months of closure to prevent the spread of Covid-19 pandemic. Schools were halted in March, when students in primary and secondary were remaining with less than a month to finish their first academic term. According to a statement by the ministry of education, under the new calendar, all students will begin from the second term. The ministry also noted that students allowed to resume studies are those in upper primary, all levels of secondary, TTC and TVET. Students in primary 5 and 6, those in senior 3, 5 and 6, those in TVET and students in TTC will resume second term studies on November 2 and end them on April 2, 2021. During the period, the students in the above classes will have four weeks for revision, assessment and remedial learning activities, before learning content of the second term. For primary four pupils and students in senior one, two and four, they will kick-off their second term on November 23 and end it on April 2. All students will have a two-week holiday on April 3 through April 15. The third term will last for 12 weeks, starting on April 19 and end on July 9, next year. National examinations Mineduc said that primary national examinations will take place on July 12, 2021 and end on July 14. Meanwhile, national examinations for secondary schools, TTC and TVET students are scheduled on July 20 and end on July 30, next year. The ministry noted that lower primary and pre-primary will resume studies later, adding that the details of their calendar will be communicated in due time. In the meantime, the remote learning will continue to support learning for those levels. A source from the ministry of education told The New Times on Tuesday that for international schools, their dates of reopening will be determined by the calendar they normally follow. So far, higher learning institutions in Rwanda have already resumed their studies.
