PESHAWAR: The elementary and secondary education department on Monday announced the summer vacation for government and private schools and, for the first time, declared that holding summer camps would be mandatory in June.

According to a notification issued by the department, the summer vacation for primary schools will be from June 1 to August 31, while for middle, high, and higher secondary schools, it will be from June 15 to August 16.

In the winter zone, the summer vacation will be for only one month, from July 1 to July 31.

The education department declared holding the summer camps compulsory for both private and government schools.

Schools bound to hold summer camps during holidays

The summer camp (study hours) for the primary schools will be for two hours in the morning from 7am to 9am. As per the schedule issued by the education department in its notification, four classes each for 30 minutes would be arranged for important subjects, including English, General Science/General Knowledge, Mathematics and Urdu.

Similarly, in the middle schools, teachers would take four classes daily, including English, Mathematics, General Science and Urdu.

In high and higher secondary schools, the duration of the summer camp will be from 7am to 9:40am. The subjects to be taught to the science and Information Technology groups include Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and English. The duration of each period will be 40 minutes.

Similarly, for the intermediate classes of science group, physics, chemistry, biology/IT/maths and English will be arranged for the students, while for the students of the humanities group, the subjects of English, statistics, math, and economics have been selected for teaching.

The notification said the school heads are hereby authorised to alter any subject or its duration depending upon the level of competencies they want to achieve in students.

However, the total duration of daily engagement cannot be extended beyond 10am in any case (both public and private sectors).

A senior official of the education department told Dawn that, besides the prescribed subjects, the authorities would have no objections if the teachers opted to teach other subjects if students were not good at them.

Before the modification in the schedule of the summer vacation, middle, high and higher secondary schools used to be shut from June 15 to August 31.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2026