No more Saturday holiday in schools

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) has notified the end of the Saturday holiday in educational institutions across Islamabad, ARY News reported on Friday.

As per the issued notification, the decision to end holiday of Saturday will be implemented from November 30 (tomorrow), and remain in place until February 1, 2025

The notification stated that students’ education had been significantly affected due to prolonged holidays and unforeseen closures. “The change has been made to ensure students receive the required instructional time and complete their syllabus on schedule”.

Earlier, the Islamabad administration revised school timings for winter in order to prevent children and staff from cold weather.

As per the notification issued by the Federal Directorate of Education, the schools will remain open from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm while the timing for regular classes on Fridays would be from 8: 00 am to 12:00 pm.

Subsequently, the evening shift schools will open from 2:30 pm to 6:00 pm.

Prior to this, the development came after the school’s closure remained in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, on 26 November due to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protest.

According to reports, the district administration of Rawalpindi decided on the schools closure. The Deputy Commissioner of Rawalpindi stated that the decision was made in light of the current situation in the district.

In a separate development, Secretary of Schools Punjab Khalid Nazir Wattoo announced that schools will remain closed during winter holidays for 20 days from December 20, 2024, till January 10, 2025.