Punjab Shifts Government Schools to Winter Hours From October 16

Government schools across Punjab move onto a winter timetable from October 16, 2026, under a notification from the province's School Education Department that runs through March 31, 2027. Single-shift schools will now open at 8:45am rather than 8am, and district education authorities have been directed to enforce the revised hours across every government school in the province.

The new schedule, shift by shift

Under the notification, single-shift schools run Monday to Thursday from 8:45am to 1:30pm, and close at 12:30pm on Friday. Double-shift schools keep their morning session from 8:45am to 1:15pm on weekdays, with Friday ending at 12:30pm; the afternoon session runs 1:30pm to 4:30pm Monday to Thursday, and 2pm to 4:30pm on Friday. Schools for female students may adjust these hours by up to 15 minutes either way, with Chief Executive Officers of district Education Authorities authorised to approve the change locally.

What it replaces

The winter hours take over from a schedule that had been in place since August 24, when the same department set single-shift hours at 8am to 1:30pm on weekdays and 8am to 12:45pm on Friday, with double-shift morning classes starting at 8am. That autumn timetable was due to expire on October 15, so the winter notification arrives exactly as the previous one lapses. The net effect for most government-school pupils is a later start by 45 minutes, while the Monday-to-Thursday closing time for single-shift classes stays at 1:30pm.

A recurring seasonal adjustment, not a policy reversal

Punjab's education department revises government school hours several times a year as daylight and temperature shift, typically moving to shorter, later-starting hours each autumn and reversing the change again in spring, rather than running a single fixed calendar year-round. This year's change follows a summer in which the department had already drawn public attention for pushing back on reports that it was considering cutting the school week to three days to save fuel costs, and comes a few months after it approved a revised curriculum that trimmed the textbook load by a quarter and, separately, launched a plan to train 160,000 teachers to use artificial intelligence tools in the classroom.

What parents and schools need to do

The notification applies to government schools; it does not direct private schools, which typically set their own hours but often follow the department's lead informally. Parents with children in government schools should expect the later start time from Friday, October 16, and the earlier Friday closing hours that apply across all shift types. District education authorities are responsible for enforcing the timetable and have discretion only over the 15-minute adjustment allowed for girls' schools.

Whether this timetable holds unchanged for the full five and a half months it covers will depend on how Punjab's winter weather develops; Lahore and other Punjab cities typically move into their smog season over the coming weeks, which has prompted school-hour and closure decisions in past years. For now, the October 16 to March 31 window is the one schools and parents should plan around.

Build Better Pakistan's Education Desk is tracking Punjab's school calendar and will report any further changes to this timetable.