School year in Uganda is different from a school year as we know in Slovakia. Does not start in September and after Christmas, students are not calculating the days remaining until summer holidays. Which are the biggest differences between classic school life in Slovakia and in Uganda?

1. Division of the school year

The school year in Uganda is divided into three parts, also known as trimesters. First trimester starts at the turn of January and February and ends by the end of May. After that comes three weeks of holidays. Then, in June, the second trimester starts and ends in August. There are three weeks of holidays as well. The third and final trimester, starts in September and ends at the beginning of December. After third semester, finally big holidays start. They are like our summer holidays, and they last until the turn of January and February.

2. First letters

Second specific thing about Ugandan school system is, that kids are officially learning to read and write earlier than us, in the kindergarten. To the first grade of primary school, they are going as a seven-year-olds.

3. The number of classes in primary and secondary school.

Kindergarten in Uganda has three grades, called “baby”, “middle” and “top class”. Unlike in Slovakia, the primary school has only seven classes, P1 to P7, the “P” means “primary school”. Secondary school normally consists of four grades, S1 to S4. Letter “S” here means “secondary school”. After four years, student can finish secondary school or decide to continue and extend his/her studies in the grades S5 and S6. After counting the years of primary and secondary school in Uganda and Slovakia, we get the same number, a total of thirteen years of attendance.

4. Uniforms

Children in Uganda wear uniforms to the school. A boy’s uniform includes a shirt, trousers, and a sweater. Girls wear skirts, dresses or dresses with suspenders and a shirt. The top layer of the uniform is also a sweater.

5. Number of students in class.

One Ugandan class has on average eighty students, so the lessons are not as comfortable as in schools in Slovakia.

6. School-time

Students in Uganda have classes in the morning and in the afternoon as well. Morning classes start from 8am until 1pm, including short break. Then they have one hour lunch break, after that afternoon class starts, and lasts until 5pm. Older students have extra classes until 5:30pm. School-time can be different from the type and locality of school.