Afghan school year: when classes start, exams and holidays

Photo: Ali Azad

Cold provinces: from Hamal

The Ministry of Education opened academic year 1405 on Thursday 26 March 2026 (6 Hamal 1405), with ceremonies in all cold-region provinces and the main one at Amani High School in Kabul.

What the press reported in earlier years:

• Midterm exams in July. In 2024 they began on Saturday 6 July (16 Saratan 1403). In 2025 they began on 6 July (15 Saratan 1404) for grades 1 to 14 and ran to the end of the month.
• Summer holiday. In 2024 it began on 22 July (1 Asad 1403) and classes resumed on 3 August. In 2025 it ran from 22 July to 1 August (31 Saratan to 10 Asad 1404), and everyone was due back on 2 August.
• Annual exams in the autumn. In 2024 the ministry set them for the colder provinces from 16 November (26 Aqrab 1403) for grades 1 to 3, and from 21 November (1 Qaws 1403) for grades 4 to 12. It named Bamyan, Daikundi, Ghor, Badakhshan, Parwan, Panjshir, Maidan Wardak, Kapisa and Nuristan.

After the annual exams comes the winter holiday, until the new year in Hamal. The sources I found do not give a fixed date for this year's exams or for the end of the holiday.

Dates move. In July 2025 the ministry also gave schools in the colder provinces a five-day holiday, 1 to 5 July, because of heat. Do not plan travel or fees around last year's dates: ask the school.

Warm provinces: from Sunbula

In warm provinces such as Kandahar, the new year began on 6 September 2026 (15 Sunbula 1405). The Kandahar education department said it could enrol 50,000 new pupils, and reports said many government schools there lack teachers. Classes there end in the spring and the long holiday is in summer, the opposite of the cold provinces. The guide on this site lists the provinces that follow the warm calendar.

Photo: Asmatullah Kharoti

How to find your school's dates

1. Ask the school office. Start dates, exam weeks and holidays can differ between provinces and districts.
2. Check the school calendar tool on this site for what applies to your province today: School calendar.
3. For registration, a new pupil goes to the nearest school before the year starts, with a tazkira (the child's or a parent's).
4. Use the date converter to turn a solar date from the ministry into a Gregorian one.

Girls and secondary school

Since 2022, girls above grade six have not been allowed to attend school, as the press reported again in September 2026. Primary school, up to grade six, is open to girls and boys.