By Yusuf Adua
All basic and senior schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been directed to reopen and fall in line with the newly engineered 2020/2021 academic calendar that will take effect from the 12th of October, 2020.
This directive was contained in a statement signed by the Acting Director, Department of Quality Assurance, Mrs. R.T. Akpata on Friday.
According to the statement, the first term begins from Sunday, 11th October 2020, and ends Friday 18/12/2020 with a duration of 10 weeks where the students are to go on holidays from Sunday, 19/12/2020 to Sunday, 3rd of January 2021 spanning two weeks.
Also, the second term of the session will run between Sunday, 3/1/2021 to Wednesday, 31st day of March in the year 2021. Academic activities will go on recess for three solid weeks as schools will go on holiday from Sunday,4th of April 2021 to Sunday, 24th April 2021.
The third term as mapped out kicks off from Sunday 25th April 2021 and ends on Saturday, 24th July 2021 within the spate of fourteen weeks of teaching and learning. The 6_week long holiday is expected to begin on Sunday 25/07/2021 and end on the 4th of September 2021 bringing the academic session to a close.
Meanwhile, the statement which was directed to all stakeholders in the education sector both private and public in the FCT enjoined them to observe strictly the COVID_19 safety protocols.
The Department of Quality Assurance (DQA) also served notices that all national public holidays are to be observed with boarding schools resuming on Sundays.
The statement didn’t fail to underscore that any school that has a genuine reason to close earlier or later than the stipulated dates in the school calendar seek approval from the education secretariat through the Department of Quality Assurance (DQA) at least one month before the desired date.
