LAHORE: The Punjab School Education Department on Thursday extended the summer vacations across the province.
According to Punjab Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat, all public and private schools in the province will now reopen on September 1.
Previously, summer holidays were scheduled to end on August 14.
In Punjab, rising temperatures forced the provincial government to close all private and public schools for summer vacations early, and the summer holidays began on May 28 instead of June 1.
Class times were also changed, with all educational institutes instructed to close two hours early at 11:30am “due to a constant heatwave,” a notification issued at the time by the education department said.
Schools in the province that serve tens of millions of children also closed for a week in May last year because of excessive heat, and for several weeks in November because of high levels of toxic smog that blanketed several cities.
Meanwhile, schools across Sindh have already reopened as the notification issued by the Sindh government in May had stated that summer holidays for educational institutions would begin from June 1 to July 31.
A notification about the summer vacations, obtained by Geo News, stated: “In pursuance of the decision taken in the meeting of sub-committee of steering committee on education held on November 28, 2024, the summer vacation for all public and private educational institutions under administrative control of School Education & Literacy Department shall be observed w.e.f June 1 to July 31 for the academic session 2025.”
