SOUTH African learners will have an extra-long holiday from school as the Department of Basic Education (DBE) shared a series of special school holidays.

Also read: Keeping children active and engaged during holidays

The Department of Basic Education announced three additional school holidays from April 28 to May 2, offering learners and teachers a break during the second term.

The statement said that an unprecedented overlap of public holidays has made the alteration necessary. April has two notable public holidays, Freedom Day, April 27 and Workers’ Day, May 1. Given that these holidays break up the week, it was deemed unrealistic by the department to open the schools for only a few days in between them.

The special school holidays

• 28 April – Freedom Day (Monday)
• 29 April – Special school holiday (Tuesday)
• 30 April – Special school holiday (Wednesday)
• 1 May –Workers’ Day (Thursday)
• 2 May – Special school holiday (Friday)

Learners will, therefore, have the entire week off and return to school on May 5.

The department assured that the extra holidays will not interfere with the school calendar requirement of 200 days annually, and parents and teachers are assured that the curriculum calendar is still on schedule.

For those who plan ahead, the gazetted national school calendars for 2025, 2026 and 2027 have been made available to view/download at https://www.kzneducation.gov.za/index.php/learners/school-calendar.

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