Schools across Punjab to reopen on Sept 1

LAHORE: The Punjab School Education Department has announced an extension of summer vacations for all public and private schools across the province.

In a notification on Thursday, the province’s education department confirmed that schools, which were previously scheduled to reopen on August 14, will now remain closed until September 1.

“In supersession of previous notification of even number dated 20.07.2025, the Competent Authority has been pleased to extend the vacations till 31.08.2025. All schools (Public & Private) in the Province of Punjab will re-open on 01.09.2025,” the notification read.

Punjab Education Minister Rana Sikandar also confirmed this development in a social media post.

The decision comes after the provincial government was forced to initiate summer holidays early, on May 28, due to a severe heatwave. The rising temperatures also prompted a change in school hours, with classes ending two hours earlier at 11:30am for a period to protect students from the extreme heat.

This isn’t the first time extreme weather has disrupted the school year in Punjab.

Last year, schools were closed for a week in May because of excessive heat. They also faced closures for several weeks in November due to high levels of toxic smog that affected many cities in the province.

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.”