Rawalpindi - A class-VII student through his father has moved the Rawalpindi bench of Lahore High Court challenging the extension in summer vacation for schools by the Punjab government till August 31.
The petitioner Denial Hussain, son of Jameel Hussain, is resident of Ilyas Town, Khana Kak Kuri Road Rawalpindi. He is a student of class-VII and currently enrolled at Spangle House Boys/Girl Secondary School, Rawalpindi.
Filed through Advocate Hafiz Waqar Ahmed Awan, the petition has challenged the notifications issued on August 7 and 8 by the Punjab School Education Department extending the summer break till August 31. According to the notifications, the school will reopen on September 1 instead of August 15 as notified at the start of the summer vacation in May.
The petitioner has cited Punjab chief secretary, secretary education, Rawalpindi commissioner, Rawalpindi deputy commissioner, and Rawalpindi district education authority through its chief executive officer as respondents in the case.
Giving his grounds for challenging the Punjab government order, the petitioner said that the enhancement of holidays would further reduce the already shrunk academic calendar. He said according the notification issued on April 4, 2025, the academic session for the year 2025-26 is fixed from April 7, 2025 to March 31, 2026. During the session only 187 days are available for the academic activities. However, after excluding summer and winter holidays, Sundays, public holidays, examination days, and other non-teaching days, the actual number of effective instructional days available to students is reduced to a maximum of 145 days.
The petitioning student further said that the decision was discriminatory as the schools in Islamabad were already open and the schools run under the federal government in Rawalpindi were also functional. The schools in other provinces are all open and functional after the summer break. In Punjab too, the schools have observed sufficient summer break starting from May 27 and ending on August 14. Further, it has been a general practice in the province to reopen schools on August 15. He said that the education department had deviated from the settled practice for the first time.
The petitioner said that the notification was further discriminatory as it applied across Punjab including the hill cities of Murree and Kotli Sattian where the summer was not as intense as in plain areas. The school children said that the government had failed to give any reasonable justification for extension in the summer break. There is not heat wave warning from the met office, no security threats, no health crises or any other hazardous implications.
The complaining student through his lawyer further said that keeping schools close for extended period would never help the deteriorating plight of education in the country. Citing different international studies, he noted that over 22 million children were currently out of school and more than 75% of ten-year-old children in Pakistan were unable to read and understand a simple sentence.
The student further said that the decision of extending the summer break was taken without having consultations with different stakeholders such as school managements, teacher bodies, and parent councils. Further, the government has given no alternate days to make up for the shortfall in completion of the syllabus. He added that the undue extension would further complicate the matters for students in Rawalpindi where they more than often face uncertain decision due to political situations.
Talking to The Nation, Advocate Awan said that the petition would expectedly be taken up for regular hearing on Monday, August 18.