Punjab notifies new college timings amid sweltering heat

LAHORE: Amid a surge in temperature across the province, the Punjab government notified new timings for public and private colleges, effective from May 21 (Tuesday) to May 31.

In a notification issued on Monday, the province’s Higher Education Department (HED) said the decision has been taken owing to “severe hot weather”.

As per the communique, the colleges operating under the jurisdiction of the HED will observe the following timings:

• Monday to Thursday and Saturday: 07:30am to 11:30am
• Friday: 07:30am to 11am
• Monday to Saturday (evening second shift): 4pm to 8pm

Earlier today, the Punjab government announced further seven-day holidays for schools due to scorching heat.

Punjab Education Minister Rana Sikandar announced the holidays in a post on X. The minister shared a notification, stating that all the public and private schools would remain closed from May 25 to 31.

“Viewing parents’ opinion and intensity of the weather, we have decided to give the holidays from this week,” he said.

The education minister said the private institutes conducting examinations would be conditionally allowed to keep them open as it was the top priority of his ministry to protect students from the weather’s intense effects. 

Punjab announces summer vacations

The Punjab government on May 17 announced the annual summer vacations for public and private schools across the province. The notification had said that vacations would be observed from June 1 to August 14.

Meanwhile, the Punjab government had also reduced school timings because of the severe temperatures being observed in multiple cities across the country.

“The schools will open from 7am till 11:30am from Monday till Thursday, while they will open at 7am to close at 10:30am on Fridays,” the notification had read.