Education Ministry says the new academic year would begin in the middle of the calendar year 2021.
The ministry said this change was approved with the recommendation of the social council. It also said that the Ministry was having discussions with the relevant authorities about making this change permanent.
The Ministry said that these discussions would impact the academic calendar of the year 2021 and that the ministry would announce these revisions as soon as it can.
Education Ministry said the decision to push back the start of the next calendar year to mid-2021 was taken in light of the delay to the Secondary school exams brought about due to the Covid-19 crisis. It said that the delay would cause school enrollment conflicts as well as challenges such as the unavailability of teachers and resources.
The Ministry had earlier rescheduled the Secondary School exams set for Oct/Nov of this year to May/June of next year.
With schools in the Maldives closed since March of this year as a precautionary measure against the Covid-19 global pandemic, the Ministry is yet to announce when the schools would re-open.
