Academic year to start in April

The Ministry of Education issued a formal guideline for the coming academic session and new admissions across Punjab, while a circular was issued to the heads of all government schools regarding the according preparations.

The new academic session will start across Punjab from April 1st 2023 and will last until March 31st 2024. Annual school examinations from the first class to the eighth class will be held from March 5 to March 20 in 48,000 government schools across the province, with the results declared on March 31st and the new academic year starting from April 1st.

The start of the academic year was delayed during the past 2 years. In 2021, the academic year started in May, while in 2022 the new academic year started from August 1st due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Currently, 11.9 million students are studying in government schools across Punjab. Each school has an admission target of 10 to 15 percent of the current number of students. Up to 4 million new admissions are expected during the upcoming academic year

According to an official survey of Punjab, 1.3 million children between the ages of 5 and 12 are currently street children. Nursery class admissions in government schools will start in March, while second to ninth class admissions will begin in April and continue until May 31.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 3^rd, 2023.