Educational institutions considering reducing summer vacations

LAHORE: A proposal to reduce summer and winter vacations in educational institutions and keep schools open on alternate Saturdays is under consideration.

According to the report, Provincial Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat has revealed that the government is considering reducing the summer vacations by 15 to 20 days this year, with the aim of filling the educational gap and ensuring timely completion of the curriculum.

It is proposed to increase the teaching days from 180 to 190 days in the current academic year. Excessive vacations waste valuable time of students, which is why changes are being considered to save them, including reducing the summer vacations by 15 to 20 days and the winter vacations by 5 to 6 days.

On the other hand, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Department of Primary and Secondary Education introduced a 4-day working model in a week for government educational institutions across the province. Under the new decision, the weekly vacation system in schools has now been changed.

An official notification issued by the Education Department said that all government schools in the province will now have weekly holidays on Fridays and Saturdays. The aim of this new system is to make the educational process more systematic and ensure saving of resources.

The notification clarified that this new schedule has been implemented with immediate effect from April 1, 2026. Now all government educational institutions will continue teaching from Sunday to Thursday, while schools will remain closed on Fridays and Saturdays.