President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has made the decision to gradually move the commencement date of the new academic year back to the beginning of the year.
Upon reviewing the proposal submitted to the Cabinet by the Ministry of Education regarding the shift of the academic new year to align with the calendar year, President Muizzu decided against implementing abrupt changes to the academic workflow. Instead, these changes will be gradually introduced over a two-year period, with several changes to the academic calendar.
As a result, the academic year-end holidays for 2025 will align with December, and the new academic year for 2026 will commence in January. These changes will allow for an annual three-week academic holiday in July and a four-week holiday in December. The changes are designed to lessen the impact on the education of students.
The commencement date of the new academic year was changed in 2021 after the academic year of 2020 was delayed by one year and six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, the 2021 academic year began on August 10 and the subsequent academic years began in August. The government's efforts to move the commencement date of the academic year back to January is a pledge of President Muizzu.