Education ministry issues revised new school calendar 2026

The Ministry of Education and Sports has released the official 2026 school calendar, setting the first term to begin Feb. 10 for pre-primary, primary and post-primary institutions

KAMPALA, Uganda — The government has ordered all educational institutions that opened for the 2026 academic year to close immediately, deferring the general start date for primary and secondary schools to Feb. 10.

The reopening was originally scheduled for Feb. 2. The Ministry of Education and Sports cited learner safety during the ongoing general elections as the reason for the delay.

In a circular issued by the ministry’s permanent secretary, Kedrace Turyagyenda, the government directed all schools and universities to remain closed until the new date. The directive includes international schools, tertiary institutions and universities.

The ministry notified vice chancellors, headteachers and parents that Term 1 will now run from Feb. 10 to May 1.

The adjustment reduces the school term for primary and secondary institutions from 12 weeks to 11. The total number of days for the term will drop from 89 to 82.

Tertiary institutions face a more significant disruption, as many had already begun their semesters. Some universities may lose six weeks of instruction time.

George Ladaah Openjuru, vice chancellor of Gulu University, said the second semester was meant to end in May but will likely be pushed to July. This shift would leave students with only a one-week break before the next academic year begins in August.

“We will have to sit down and see how we will handle this,” Openjuru said. “It is going to be tight.”

Hasadu Kirabira, chairperson of the National Private Education Institutions Association, noted that the condensed calendar could hinder the implementation of the new lower secondary curriculum and affect preparation for national examinations.

It remains unclear if the changes will impact the release of the 2024 national examination results or the reporting dates for Senior One and Senior Five students. Under the original schedule, Senior One students were set to report Feb. 16, followed by Senior Five on Feb. 23.

Eriabu Lugujjo, executive director of the Uganda Vice Chancellors Forum, urged universities to comply with the directive despite the inconvenience. He suggested that institutions use blended learning, combining online and physical instruction, to mitigate the lost time.