The Ghana Education Service (GES) has cancelled the two day mid-term break scheduled for basic schools on November 5 and 6, 2026, directing pupils and teachers across the country to report to school for normal academic activities.
The decision is part of efforts to recover instructional hours lost during the recent nationwide strike by pre-tertiary teacher unions, which disrupted teaching and learning for nearly two weeks. Corrections Policy
In a notice issued on Monday, November 2, 2026, the Service directed all basic schools to remain open on Thursday, November 5, and Friday, November 6, instead of observing the break originally included in the 2026/2027 academic calendar.
The notice, signed by Daniel Fenyi of the GES Headquarters, asked teachers, students, parents, guardians and the general public to take note of the revised arrangement and be guided accordingly.
The directive means that pupils are expected to attend school at their usual reporting times, while teachers are required to continue with their normal academic schedules.
Parents and guardians who had already made arrangements for the two-day holiday will have to adjust their plans to accommodate the change.
Why GES cancelled the mid-term break
The cancellation follows a period of disruption caused by industrial action involving three major pre-tertiary teacher unions, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG).
The unions began their nationwide strike on September 25, 2026, over concerns relating to outstanding salary arrears, delayed promotions, allowances and conditions of service.
The industrial action kept teachers away from classrooms in affected schools, interrupting lessons and creating concerns about the amount of instructional time available to complete the academic programme for the term.
Following negotiations involving the government, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, the Ministry of Labour, Jobs and Employment and the Council of State, the unions suspended the strike on October 9. Editorial Standards
Teachers subsequently returned to the classrooms on Monday, October 12, allowing academic activities to resume.
However, the suspension of the strike did not automatically resolve the learning time lost during the disruption.
GES therefore began considering measures to ensure that pupils could receive adequate teaching before the end of the term.
The decision to cancel the November mid-term break is one of the measures being used to recover some of the lost instructional hours.
What the directive means for parents and pupils
For parents and guardians, the immediate responsibility is to ensure that children return to school as scheduled on November 5 and 6.
Some families may have planned short trips, visits or other activities around the mid-term break, particularly because the dates were included in the approved school calendar.
The announcement therefore requires parents to review those arrangements and make the necessary adjustments.
Pupils should also prepare for regular classroom activities rather than treating the two days as a holiday. Teachers are expected to use the additional time to continue lessons and address areas affected by the strike.
The change applies to basic schools, covering kindergarten, primary and junior high school levels.
Senior high schools operate under a separate academic calendar and are not the subject of this particular directive. Editorial Ethics & Independence
Parents whose children attend private basic schools may wish to confirm the arrangements directly with their school management, particularly where individual institutions communicate calendar changes separately.
Impact on the 2026/2027 academic calendar
The original 2026/2027 academic calendar provided for a two-day mid-term break during the first term.
The cancellation means pupils will continue learning on the two dates that had initially been set aside for the break.
Under the published calendar, the first term began on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, and is scheduled to end on Thursday, December 17, 2026.
The Christmas vacation is expected to begin on Friday, December 18, with pupils scheduled to return for the second term on Tuesday, January 5, 2027.
GES has not announced a change to these dates in the notice cancelling the mid-term break.
The decision suggests that the Service is seeking to recover lost teaching time without immediately extending the first term into the Christmas vacation.
However, the effectiveness of the measure will depend on how schools use the additional days and whether the time recovered is sufficient to address the disruption caused by the strike.
The wider challenge of recovering lost learning time
The cancellation also highlights the broader challenge facing Ghana’s education system whenever industrial disputes interrupt the academic calendar.
Lost instructional time can affect the pace at which teachers complete their syllabuses, the amount of time available for revision and pupils’ preparation for assessments.
Younger learners may be particularly affected when interruptions disrupt the continuity of lessons in foundational subjects such as English, mathematics and science.
Restoring classroom hours is therefore important, but simply reopening schools does not automatically guarantee that all learning gaps will be addressed.
Teachers may need to identify topics that were not adequately covered during the strike and adjust lesson plans to ensure that pupils understand essential concepts before moving to new material.
School administrators can also support the recovery process by monitoring lesson delivery, coordinating revision activities and communicating with parents about areas where pupils may require additional assistance.
For parents, encouraging children to maintain regular study routines at home could complement the additional classroom time.
The GES directive is consequently an important step towards restoring academic activities following the industrial action.
Its success, however, will depend on cooperation among teachers, school authorities, parents and pupils.
As basic schools prepare to open on Thursday and Friday, November 5 and 6, the Service is urging all education stakeholders to observe the revised arrangement and support efforts to recover lost instructional hours.
The immediate message is clear: the planned mid-term holiday has been cancelled, and basic school pupils are expected back in class for normal lessons on both days.