Even if school hours are not extended, reforms will remain the same - A letter from the Secretary of Education

Although it was previously planned to extend school hours until 2:00 PM for Grade 5 and Grades 6 to 13, starting from the beginning of the 2026 school term under the new education reforms, the Ministry of Education has taken steps not to implement that decision this year. Authorities have arrived at this decision considering the severe damage caused to the school system as well as the transport system in several provinces due to the adverse weather conditions and natural disasters that affected the country in recent days.

Accordingly, it has been observed that extending school hours could cause some inconvenience to children and other parties in the disaster-affected provinces. Therefore, it has been decided to maintain school hours as before, from 7:30 AM to 1:30 PM, only for the year 2026.

However, even though there is no change in school hours, the new education reform process expected to be introduced from the year 2026 will be implemented for Grades 1 and 6. According to the instructions issued in this regard, 7 periods will be implemented per day for Grades 6 to 13, and 45 minutes should be allocated for each period. Additionally, as school hours for Grade 5 are also revised from 7:30 AM to 1:30 PM, Sinhala, Tamil, and Muslim schools must prepare their timetables accordingly.

When commencing the new school term, the first school term for all grades except Grades 1 and 6 will begin on January 05, 2026. Although academic activities for Grade 6 students are scheduled to commence on January 21, administrative procedures for admitting these students based on scholarship results have been given the opportunity to be completed within the week starting January 05. Furthermore, the identification process for Grade 1 children will begin on January 05, and formal academic activities for that grade are scheduled to commence on January 29.