The Sindh government on Tuesday ruled out early summer vacations, announcing that all public and private institutions under the school education and literacy department will close from June 1 as planned.

According to a notification issued by the School Education and Literacy Department today, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the summer vacations for all institutes will end on July 31 in line with the decisions taken by the Sub-Committee of the Steering Committee Meeting on January 25.

The development comes a day after the Punjab government announced an early start of summer vacation from May 25 for all public and private schools across the province.

The decision was taken to prioritise students’ safety and comfort as scorching heat waves grip the region.

Karachi will be least affected by the week-long heatwave set to hit Sindh today when the temperature is expected to soar six to eight degrees centigrade above normal in at least nine cities, a forecast of the Pakistan Meteorological Department showed.

On Monday, the Met department recorded the highest temperature (47 degrees Celsius) in Jacobabad followed by Mohenjo Daro and Shaheed Benazirabad (46.5°C), Sakrand (46°C), Larkana (45.5°C), Sukkur (43.3°C), Padidan (43.5°C), Dadu (43.5°C), Mithi (43°C), Rohri (42.5°C), Khairpur (42.7°C), Mirpurkhas (40.5°C) and Hyderabad and Chhor (42.5°C), Tandojam (42°C), Badin (39°C) and Thatta (37°C).

Karachi remained the “coolest among Sindh districts” on Monday with 36.3°C with 55 per cent humidity.

On Sunday, The Sindh government had postponed the intermediate examinations across the province for one week due to an imminent heatwave.

The exams, which were earlier scheduled for May 22, are now set to begin from May 27.

Consequently, the following day, the Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) also notified that its ongoing matriculation papers scheduled to be held from May 21 to May 27 have been postponed.

“The examinations will now be continued with effect from May 28 as per schedule.