The Department of Basic Education has on Tuesday (9 February 2021) released the latest amended school calendar 2021 in South Africa.
A second wave of the COVD-19 pandemic forced the government to postpone schools reopening by two weeks until 15 February 2021.
Latest amended school calendar 2021
Below is the latest amended school calendar for South African schools in 2021 as released by the Department on various social media platforms.
The new calendar shows that the academic year will end on 15 December 2021, with a total of 192 actual school days planned. This is a slight reduction from the 195 days in the previous calendar.
New school term dates
According to the updated calendar, the new school term dates are as follows:
- 15 February – 23 April
- 3 May – 9 July
- 26 July – 1 October
- 11 October – 15 December.
The two-week delay is not as disruptive as the delays experienced in 2020. However, schools will still be expected to take measures to recover lost teaching time.
For public schools and private schools which follow the same calendar, the new reopening dates are as follows:
- School Management Teams (SMTs) reported on Monday, 25 January 2021.
- Teachers reported on Monday, 1 February 2021.
- Learners will resume on Monday, 15 February 2021.