Schools start closing early ahead of official August break

Learners in several schools have begun their August holidays earlier than scheduled, as institutions start closing days ahead of the official Ministry of Education calendar.

Despite the Ministry setting August 4 as the official closing date for the second term, several schools, particularly the privately-managed ones, started closing as early as Friday last week.

According to the government’s 2025 academic calendar, all schools were expected to close on Monday next week for a three-week second-term holiday until August 22.

The learners are expected back in class on August 25 for the third term.

The reasons for the early closures vary, with some schools citing internal planning, transport logistics, and the need to give teachers time to prepare for the busy final term. Others, however, are said to be grappling with financial challenges.

The third term, which begins on August 25, is usually the shortest in the school calendar, running for just nine weeks.

It will culminate in a closure on October 24, ahead of a packed national exam season that includes KPSEA, KILEA, KCSE, and the newly introduced KJSEA assessments.

KPSEA is set to commence on October 27, as well as KILEA, KJSEA and KPLEA,  while KCSE officially starts Nov 3.

The Ministry has yet to comment officially on the widespread early closures, but education stakeholders have in the past raised concerns about learners being released before their time.

Some parents also expressed surprise at the sudden communication from schools, especially those who had not made early transport or supervision arrangements.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) cited the early closure due to failure to wire the capitation meant for public schools in time.

Union's first vice national chairman Malel Lang’at said the government should not only disburse the funds to schools in time to avoid such cases where the calendar is interrupted.

“We want to appeal to the government to consistently wire the funds and as per the agreed formula...what we have is a situation where money is not released in full,” he said.

A spot check by the Star has, however, shown that some public schools are still in session and planning to close next week as directed.