Doha, Qatar: The Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE) announced it has approved the new academic calendar for schools in the State of Qatar for the academic years (2025–2026, 2026–2027, and 2027–2028).
The calendar was approved after a comprehensive review of various influencing factors, including the Shura Council's proposals to harmonise public and private school holidays.
The decision was made to set the mid-year break in the last third of December, contributing to a unified educational system across the country and providing families with better planning and organization.
MoEHE stated that the new calendar takes into account various educational, cultural, and national considerations, in light of the Ministry's vision to develop a flexible and comprehensive education system.
Respecting the religious and social significance of the holy month of Ramadan, the new academic calendar includes two additional days off for students and school staff in addition to the official state holiday during the holy month, for the 2025-2026 and 2027-2028 academic years.
The Ministry’s new calendar also includes an extended weekend after the second-semester midterm exams each year, as part of the Ministry's efforts to support student well-being and enhance their educational balance.
Among the most prominent features of the new calendar is the adoption of a "Test Day - Rest Day" system.
This system, MoEHE said, is used exclusively for second-semester exams for high school students, and would allow students sufficient time to review material and regain focus between each exam.
It also helps prepare them mentally and psychologically to achieve the best possible performance in the second-semester exams, which represent a student's last opportunity to improve their achievement and GPA.
The calendar also included adjusting the date of the final exams for the first semester to be held before National Day, in response to the Ministry of Culture's proposals.
This enables students to actively participate in national events that contribute to strengthening identity and belonging.
In order to protect students' religious and psychological well-being, the Ministry has taken care to avoid aligning the second-semester midterm exams with the holy month of Ramadan.
This allows students to utilise the holy month for worship and related social and cultural activities.
To ensure efficient organisation of the educational process, the calendar was designed to achieve an objective balance between the two semesters, while ensuring coverage of all curricula within the approved number of school days.
MoEHE affirmed that this calendar is part of its ongoing efforts to develop educational policies that serve the interests of students, teachers, and parents, and enhance the effectiveness of the educational system in Qatar.
This is in line with its commitment to Qatar National Vision 2030, which places human capital development at the forefront of its priorities toward building an advanced knowledge-based society.
