Punjab Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat on Saturday announced that the government decided to extend winter vacations in all public and private schools across the province till January 19, citing the extremely low temperatures expected in the coming days.

The decision comes a day after Hayat rebuffed rumors and fake news on social media regarding the extension of holidays and maintained that schools would reopen on Jan 12.

The education minister, however, created a poll on his X account, asking people if schools and colleges should reopen from Jan 12 or 19. The majority of the users voted for Jan 19.

In the latest post today on X, Hayat wrote: “In view of the prolonged severe winter spell and the forecast of extremely low temperatures in the coming days, and on the advice of PDMA, the Government of Punjab has decided to extend winter vacations until January 19.”

Meanwhile, in a separate notification, the Punjab Higher Education Department stated that winter vacations for higher educational institutions were extended from January 10 to January 16 due to the severe weather.

“All colleges (public and private) shall re-open on Monday, January 19, 2026, resuming [the] full/normal week for all classes,” the notification, available with Dawn, read.

It added that BS 4-year programmes would continue to function and all examinations would be held as per the notified schedules of boards and universities.

The Punjab government had announced winter vacations for all public and private schools and colleges from December 22 to January 10.

Earlier in the week, a fake notification claiming to have been issued by Punjab’s School Education Department went viral on social media, spreading confusion among parents and students.

The notification claimed that “due to severe weather conditions,” the vacations had been extended until January 17, and that schools would reopen on January 19.

Sindh govt changes school timings until Jan 26

The Sindh government today notified new school timings in the province due to the prevailing cold weather.

A weather advisory from the Met Office forecast cold and dry weather over most districts in Sindh, with a minimum temperature of 9º Celsius and a maximum of 25ºC.“Moderate to dense fog is likely to persist over Sukkur, Rohri, Shikarpur, Kashmore, Shaheed Benazirabad, Dadu, Larkana, Tando Jam, Mohenjodaro and surrounding areas,” the advisory read.

According to a notification from the Sindh government, available with Dawn, all private and public educational institutions would open from 9am on January 12 (Monday) until January 26.

The changes to school timings would apply to educational institutions “under the administrative control of the school education and literacy department”, the notification read.

The decision was made after Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah consulted Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah. While schools will open at 9am, school closure times will remain the same.