The department said the amendments aim to ‘ensure consistency’ and reflect feedback from ‘various stakeholders and the general public’
As the 2025 academic year wraps up, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) has already cemented its plans for 2026.
The department recently gazetted several amendments to the National Policy for Determining School Calendars for Public Schools, some of which have been tested and implemented over the last two years.
Among them is the scrapping of staggered opening and closing term dates, a long-standing system that saw inland and coastal schools start the year on different weeks.
Staggered calendars scrapped
According to the gazette, “schools must open in the third week of January,” ending the practice where “inland schools opened during the second week of January, while coastal schools opened during the third week.”
This effectively means all provinces will now operate on a single national calendar from 2026 onwards, a shift that aligns with the uniform start dates begun in 2024.
Inland and coastal clusters abolished
The department also deleted clauses which divided provinces into inland (Gauteng, Free State, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West) and coastal (Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape and Western Cape) clusters.
Previously, the policy required “different dates to be allocated to the two clusters,” with the minister allowed to consider a common calendar only under exceptional circumstances.
The deletion formally ends the cluster system and standardises the academic calendar for all nine provinces.
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Traffic-flow clause removed
The gazette further removes clauses which instructed the department to consider “transport and travel infrastructure” when planning holidays, in order to “assist in minimising traffic flow relating to school holidays.”
This means road-traffic implications will no longer be a determining factor when setting term or holiday dates.
Uniform school days clause deleted
Another notable amendment appears in the amount of school days.
Under the current policy, “the number of school days must be the same in all provinces.”
This clause has been deleted in the proposed amendments, suggesting that while the overall calendar will be uniform, minor provincial variations in school days may now be permissible.
Term starts no longer restricted
Under the old provisions, policy prohibited schools from beginning a term on a Monday, stating that doing so “leads to high traffic flow on the preceding Sunday and leaves insufficient time for school hostel staff to prepare.”
The DBE has now removed this restriction, giving planners greater flexibility in scheduling term start dates.
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