The Ministry of Education says the idea of having four school terms in a year is to give enough time for students, teachers, and parents to plan their schedules well throughout the year.

Speaking on an Education Panel this week, Acting Director of Education Services, Marcel Yamsiu, said the plan to introduce these changes is part of the Ministry’s long-term strategy and also follows the experience of Seventh-Day Adventist schools around the country, which already operate on a four-term system.

“The school community, together with parents and school administration, can plan better across the four terms. With proper communication, there should be no increase in school fees. The annual school fee will now be divided into four parts instead of three. The Ministry of Education and Training is monitoring this through the school fee structure. Planning can also be managed more easily—such as budgeting for school buildings—by breaking it into four parts instead of three. This approach helps with better planning and allows parents to plan ahead,” Yamsiu said.

Starting next year, government schools will begin classes on January 25 for the first term, which will run for 12 weeks followed by a one-week school holiday.

The second term will run for 12 weeks followed by a three-week holiday.

The third term will last eight weeks followed by a one-week break, while the fourth term will also run for eight weeks, with the school year ending on December 11.

In terms of student learning, the Principal Education Officer for the Curriculum Unit, Crem Mandava, said the four-term system will cover the same content that teachers used to teach in three longer terms — only now it will be divided into four shorter ones.

“The skills remain the same — we just divide them into four terms, and yes, it’s possible. All syllabuses remain the same, and now we can manage everything across four terms, so there are not many complaints,” Mandava said.

The Ministry of Education and Training is already working to ensure that all schools are prepared to follow the new 2026 academic calendar.