Official GES 2025/2026 Second Term Calendar for Basic Schools: Key Dates & Holidays

The Official GES 2025/2026 Second Term Calendar for Basic Schools, including weeks for active teaching and learning, holidays, and other key events, has been well explained here to help stakeholders to start and end the term well.

Per the Ghana Education Service, all public schools will reopen on Thursday, 8th January, 2026, after Ghana marks the 7th January Constitution Day holiday; however, some private schools will reopen on 6th January.

Schools will remain open for term 2 for 12 weeks. Teachers will therefore engage in active teaching and learning till the end of the 9th week.

The tentative vacation date as announced by the GES for term two is April 1st, 2026. Both public and private schools will have their midterm breaks in the 7th week of the term.

Schools will break for the Independence Day celebrations from 6th March to 9th March, 2026, and return to school for teaching and learning on Tuesday, 10th March, 2026. Students in basic and second-cycle schools will have the chance to visit military installations in their respective regions for the Military Open Day Tour on 9th March, 2026.

Military Open Day offers students a great opportunity to visit a military base close to them to socialize with officials of the army, navy, and air force.

The military officers, on the other hand, share their experiences and knowledge about military activities and entertain the learners with acrobatic displays and other fun activities to help learners develop positive interest.

In the 11th week schools will start their revision week, and the Eid ul-Fitr (tentative) is expected in the same week. The term 2 end-of-term exams will start in week 12, followed by vacation on April 1, 2026.

Vacation and 2026 BECE Date

Teachers are expected to make good use of the full Official GES 2025/2026 Second Term Calendar for Basic Schools explained here for effective planning.

The tentative closing date for the second term is Wednesday, 1st April 2026.

When schools vacate, final-year students in grade 9 will remain in school to continue their preparation for the 2026 BECE, which starts on May 11th, 2026.

READ: 2026 BECE Final Timetable Projected – Download Here

Full Official GES 2025/2026 Second Term Calendar for Basic Schools

This expanded second-term calendar is based on the GES release calendar signed by Daniel Fenyi, Head of Public Relations of the service.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. When is the official reopening date for GES basic schools for Term 2?

According to the Ghana Education Service (GES), all public Kindergarten, Primary, and Junior High Schools (JHS) will officially reopen on Thursday, 8th January 2026. This follows the 7th January Constitution Day holiday.

2. How many weeks will students spend in school during the second term?

The second term of the 2025/2026 academic year consists of 12 weeks of active teaching and learning. It is a critical term for JHS 3 students preparing for the 2026 BECE, which is scheduled for May 4 to May 11, 2026.

3. When is the 2026 Second Term vacation date?

The tentative closing date for the second term is Wednesday, 1st April 2026. Students will then go on a break from April 2 to April 20, 2026, before the third term begins on April 21st.

4. What is the Military Open Day, and when is it held?

The Military Open Day is a special event held on Monday, 9th March 2026, following the Independence Day holiday. It allows students in basic and second-cycle schools to visit military garrisons, interact with personnel from the Army, Navy, and Air Force, and watch acrobatic displays to foster civil-military relations.

Wisdom K.E Hammond

The Ghana Education News Editorial Team is a specialized collective of education researchers, journalists, and policy analysts dedicated to providing high-fidelity reporting on the Ghanaian academic landscape. Serving as a primary bridge between governing bodies—including the Ghana Education Service (GES) and WAEC—and the public, the team leverages over a decade of combined experience to serve students, parents, and educators nationwide.

Lead Architect & Editor-in-Chief

The team is led by Wisdom Kojo Eli Hammond, a distinguished Ghanaian Edu-Tech Entrepreneur, AI Solutions Developer, and Product Architect with over 25 years of cross-disciplinary experience in education, finance, and digital media. Wisdom is the visionary force behind SkulManager, Ghana’s premier school management ecosystem, and the Lead Consultant at Education-News Consult.

A self-taught innovator, professional Web Designer, and regular columnist on GhanaWeb, Wisdom engineered SkulManager.com as the only platform strictly tailored to the GES Curriculum. His technical leadership has redefined educational assessment through a Hybrid Marking Ecosystem, pioneering the BECE and WASSCE Home Mock services—a unique fusion of WAEC-trained human examiners and advanced AI marking engines operational since 2022.

Wisdom’s 360-degree view of institutional challenges is grounded in his tenure as College President and Lecturer at Pinnacle College (Achimota), as well as his background as a school administrator and accountant. He is a dedicated lifelong learner currently advancing his studies at the Accra Institute of Technology (AIT), with academic ties to the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA).

An accomplished author, his works include Returnees of the Dead Forest (UK Published), Simplified Beacon of Light (850+ Q&A), and The Leader in Me. A foundational pillar of the award-winning NGO Human Rights Reporters Ghana (HRRG), Wisdom is committed to building intelligent systems that solve societal problems and prepare the next generation of Ghanaian students for a digital future.

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