Start small. Think Big.
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This was continued in 2025, and will now be made a permanent change going forward.
The department previously stated that the change was necessary to regularise the school calendar, amid wider changes to better lay out the school year.
This includes maximising school time by better planning around public holidays.
“All possible steps must be taken to avoid a late start of the school year – that is, in the fourth week of January – as this pushes back all the terms,” the department said previously.
“The focus is on ensuring that there is no loss in terms of the number of days allocated for schooling.”
Following from that, the policy also seeks to remove the start-date stipulations, being that inland schools must open during the second week of January, while coastal schools must open during the third week of January.
In the updated policy, all schools must open in the third week of January, and all school terms will be regularised to follow the same structure.
The department called for comments on the policy changes, and submissions can be sent to Mlambo.S@dbe.gov.za and Mkhize.ZM@dbe.gov.za.
In addition to the proposed changes to the calendar policy, the department has also gazetted the proposed school calendar for 2028, which is also open for comment.
The school calendar setting process in South Africa includes publishing draft versions for comment, years before they come into effect.
For example, the draft calendar for the 2025 school year was gazetted in August 2022, with the final calendar published in early 2023.
The draft calendars for 2026 and 2027, meanwhile, were gazetted in October 2024, with the final calendars published earlier this year.
