ISLAMABAD: Thousands of students of 38 public-sector schools and colleges in the capital are likely to join their classes on Monday or Tuesday after the government decided late Sunday night to reopen educational institutions.

Majority of the institutions had been closed for security purposes while some were being used to accommodate police officials.

An official of the FDE said there were 38 schools and colleges, which were closed to accommodate police ahead of PTI’s expected protest march.

However, “on Sunday night we were allowed to open majority of the institutions from Monday, except around 10 institutions where police officials are still residing,” he said.

Students of 38 public-sector schools, colleges had been sitting idle at home for around three weeks

“We were told late Sunday night to open institutions,” said a school principal.

“Our students have faced a big loss during the last two weeks; now I am contacting my teachers to approach students, it’s too late, so if not Monday, we will have a good attendance on Tuesday,” he said.

Earlier, classes at 38 public-sector schools and colleges had been discontinued after the government decided to accommodate police personnel at these institutions.

“This is unfortunate. Thousands of students have been deprived of education as our 38 schools and colleges are being used by the police,” a schoolteacher said.

He said the government started shifting police personnel to Islamabad’s schools and colleges on Sept 24, three days before the PTI’s scheduled rally.

“As of today, our 38 schools are being used by the police, with the latest being G-6/2 Middle School, which was taken over by the police on Sunday morning,” another schoolteacher said.

According to a parent of a student, “closure of educational institutions does not make sense”.

“My two daughters have been sitting at home for around two weeks, and every day they ask me when their school will reopen. Whenever I ask their teachers, they say reopening the school is beyond their mandate because the police are currently staying there,” he said.

Another parent, who wished not to be named, said his son had secured outstanding marks in matriculation and had just enrolled in first year.

“We were hoping that he would get an A grade in first year, but tell me, when his college is closed, how will he compete with other students whose institutions are functioning,” he added.

Among the institutions closed, H-9 College recently made headlines after securing a position in the Federal Board examinations for the first time in its history.

“Our morale was very high after securing a position in intermediate examinations for the first time in history. We were hopeful of securing more positions next year, and the entire faculty had been working with great dedication. But if the college remains closed for a couple of weeks, how can we make progress,” a faculty member of H-9 College said.

He added that the college had been closed since Sept 24.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2026