Students heading to school on their first day of opening. Pic: Baher Amin / The Peninsula
Minister of Education and Higher Education H E Dr. Mohammed bin Abdul Wahed Ali Al Hammadi adopted the report of the committee formed to study the academic calendar for the next four academic years from 2019/2020 to 2022/2023.
H E the Education Minister issued a ministerial decision regarding the amendment of the school calendar for the academic year 2019-2020.
In a press statement, the Education Ministry said that the decision about the annual calendar of the academic year 2019/2020 took into account the balance in school days in line with international standards and international education systems while providing the appropriate amount of summer leave days for students and staff in schools.
For the academic year 2019-2020, the start of staff returned to schools on August 20, 2019, while students started their academic year on August 25, 2019.
The mid-term tests for the first semester of grades (1-11) day start on October 13, 2019, and continue until October 22.
The end of the first semester exams for grades (10, 11, 12) day - adult education begins on December 4, 2019, and will last until December 15.
The end of the first semester exams for grades (1 - 9) day - adult education begins on December 5, 2019, and continue until December 12.
Mid-year academic leave starts on December 22, 2019, and runs until January 2, 2020, while the second semester starts on January 5, 2020.
The end of the first semester tests for grades (1 - 11), day - adult education start on January 21, 2020, and continue until January 30.
The mid-term tests for the second semester of grades (10-11) day start on March 3, 2020 and continue until March 12.
The mid-term tests for the second semester of grades (1-9) will start on March 5, 2020, and will last until March 12.
The second-semester leave begins on March 15, 2020, and lasts until March 19. The work returns after the second semester leave on March 22, 2020. The tests of the end of the second semester of grades (12,11,10) day - adult education, starting on June 1, 2020, and continue until June 13. Tests for the end of the second semester of grades (1 - 9) day - adult education start on June 2, 2020, and continue until June 9.
School leave for staff starts on June 21, 2020, and lasts until August 20. While the tests of the second round of all grades (1 - 12) day - adult education on July 14, 2020, and continue until July 23.
According to the statement, the amendment for the academic years up to 2022/2023 took into account the recommendations of the Supreme Committee for Projects and Legacy regarding the proposed leave for school students, during the period from 21 November to 18 December 2022 during the 2022 Qatar World Cup, in the middle of the academic year 2022/2023, taking into account the needs of the education sector, and not contrary to the interest of the development of education in Qatar.
The statement referred to the amendment of the academic calendar for academic years (2019/2020 to 2022/2023) and clarified in this regard the number of days and hours of schooling for secondary, primary and preparatory levels.
The statement also pointed out that the above data, in addition to easing the curriculum, gave the school assessment sufficient flexibility to make some adjustments to meet the requirements for developments and learning standards in relation to the approved time of schooling, whether calculating hours of education in accordance with the average adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in its global report on monitoring education for all issued in 2015, which said that the average number of school hours is 850 to 1,000 hours per year for primary school, or the average number of school days averaging 185 school days per year, according to OECD-approved education indicators.
The calendar included in detail the dates of study and holidays for public schools for the academic years from 2021/2020 to 2023/2022.
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