Punjab Announces School Census and Revised Timetables for 2026-27

What happened

The Punjab School Education Department has announced two major updates regarding provincial public schools. First, the government will conduct an annual school census for the 2026–27 academic year covering 38,000 government schools from October 21 to October 31 [1]. To prepare for this, the Program Monitoring and Implementation Unit (PMIU) released an online training schedule [1]. Master trainers were scheduled for training on October 16, followed by online sessions for IT teachers, Assistant Education Officers (AEOs), and head teachers from October 17 to 19 [1]. A trial exercise to prepare the census module is scheduled for October 19 and 20 [1].

Second, the department has announced a revised timetable for all public schools across the province [2, 3]. This new schedule took effect on October 16, 2026, and will remain in place until March 31, 2027 [2, 3]. The revised timings are as follows:

• Single-shift schools: 8:45 am to 1:30 pm from Monday to Thursday, and 8:45 am to 12:30 pm on Fridays [2, 3].
• Double-shift schools (Morning shift): 8:45 am to 1:15 pm from Monday to Thursday, and 8:45 am to 12:30 pm on Fridays [2, 3].
• Double-shift schools (Afternoon shift): 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm from Monday to Thursday, and 2:00 pm to 4:30 pm on Fridays [2, 3].

Chief Executive Officers of District Education Authorities have been authorized to adjust school timings for female students by up to 15 minutes to meet local requirements [2, 3]. All district education authorities have been directed to implement these schedules [2].

Who is affected

• For the census: 38,000 government schools will participate [1]. Nominated male and female IT teachers from each tehsil will act as master trainers [1]. Training involves IT teachers from all high and higher secondary schools, as well as heads of primary, elementary, and mosque-based schools [1]. Assistant Education Officers (AEOs) and head teachers are also involved in the training sessions [1].
• For the timetable: All single-shift, double-shift, and afternoon public schools in Punjab are affected by the new timings [3].