Punjab government has set up a special committee to draft a permanent academic calendar following directives from the Lahore High Court Rawalpindi Bench on Thursday. Justice Jawad Hassan termed the recent extension of summer vacations across Punjab as “undesirable” and said the court would give a long-term solution to this matter.
The newly formed committee includes Punjab Advocate General Usman Khan, Assistant Advocate General Barrister Raja Hashim Javed, Secretary Higher Education, Secretary Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Secretary Special Education Department, and President of Pakistan Education Council Mian Imran Masood. Senior figures from Lahore Grammar School, Beaconhouse and the National Curriculum Council will also be part of the body, alongside four representatives from private schools.
The committee’s first meeting will be held on September 11 at the School Education Department in Lahore. Senior Law Officer Muhammad Asif Iqbal has been appointed as the secretary of the committee and will manage records, minutes and updates for the court. The hearing has now been adjourned until September 16.
The case was filed by a student, Daniyal Hassan who challenged the Punjab Education Department move to extend summer holidays. His lawyer argued that the decision was taken without any legal basis and that only the District Registration Authority could order sudden holidays. He stressed that unnecessary breaks were damaging students education and wasting valuable academic time.
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Private school representatives also raised concerns, saying the government had never issued a proper academic calendar. According to them, private schools usually plan for about 220 working days, but repeated official closures cut this down to almost 135 days. They insisted that holidays in one district should not affect schools in the entire province.
Law officers from the Education Department admitted that while the Free and Compulsory Education Act 2014 allowed the government to propose a calendar, it lacked clear rules on holidays. They suggested that Punjab should adopt an academic structure like international institutions, dividing the year into spring, summer, autumn and winter terms.
The court said parents paying heavy school fees cannot accept repeated closures and stressed that the children’s learning process must not suffer. It directed all stakeholders to finalize a permanent academic and holiday calendar, which will be reviewed and enforced by the High Court.
