Punjab announces winter vacations in schools

LAHORE: The Punjab government has announced 22-day winter vacations in schools across the province, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

The school education department has issued a notification in this regard, stating that the winter vacations in all public and private schools in the province will be observed effective from December 20, 2024, to January 10, 2025.

“However the school will reopen from 13th January due to weekly offs of Saturday and Sunday on January 11 and 12”, the Secretary of School Education said in the notification.

The notification further stated that the restrictions regarding wearing of face masks within school premises will remain intact.

The announcement came at the time when Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered to provide pick-and-drop services to schoolchildren after winter break, in a move to counter the increasing smog threat.

Winter vacations announced for schools

The directions were given by LHC Justice Shahid Karim in a three-page written order he issued on petitions related to smog prevention.

The court ordered that children must commute to schools using transport provided by the school administration.

Schools failing to comply with these orders will face sealing, the LHC bench warned. It also remarked that no school should issue written disclaimers absolving themselves of responsibility for students’ transportation.

On the other hand, the Sindh government has also announced 11-day winter vacations in educational institutions across the province including Karachi.

The Education Department of Sindh has stated that all the private and government educational institutions will remain closed from December 21 till Dec 31.

The classes will resume on January 1, 2025 i.e., Wednesday.

The Sindh secretary of education said that the vacations have been announced in line with the decision of the Steering Committee of the department.