Peshawar schools closed on Monday, 12 October, after the deputy commissioner’s office notified every public and private educational institution in the district to stay shut. The notification covers schools, colleges and universities inside the territorial limits of District Peshawar, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported. Dawn likewise reported that educational institutions in Peshawar would remain closed.
Three more districts issued their own orders for the same day. All public and private schools, colleges and universities in Swabi, Mardan and Nowshera will remain closed on Monday, 12 October, ProPakistani reported, citing separate notifications from the district administrations.
What the Peshawar order covers
The deputy commissioner, the district’s senior administrative officer, issued the decision through a formal notification, APP said. It applies to institutions operating within District Peshawar, in both the public and private sectors. The agency’s report does not state a reason, and it does not mention examinations or a reopening date.
For families in the provincial capital, the immediate effect is a halt to classes on Monday. APP describes the closure as applying on 12 October.
Swabi, Mardan and Nowshera
ProPakistani said the closures in the three districts follow the imposition of an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the prevailing situation. The orders cover educational institutions across Swabi, Mardan and Nowshera.
In Swabi, the deputy commissioner and the district education officer directed all public and private educational institutions to suspend activities for the day, citing the current situation. In Mardan, the deputy commissioner announced a holiday for all educational institutions on 12 October. All examinations and papers scheduled for Monday have been cancelled under that district’s orders.
Nowshera’s deputy commissioner, Gohar Zaman, issued similar instructions. Public and private institutions are closed, teaching is suspended, and examinations set for the day are cancelled. ProPakistani said the notifications are for 12 October only, and they do not give revised dates for the cancelled examinations in Mardan and Nowshera.
What reports say about the emergency
The school orders in Swabi, Mardan and Nowshera are tied, in ProPakistani’s account, to an emergency in the province. That report does not spell out the legal basis, the area covered beyond those districts, or how long the emergency lasts. APP’s Peshawar story does not mention an emergency at all.
A headline published by NDTV said Pakistan imposed an emergency as Imran Khan’s supporters marched in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Neither APP nor ProPakistani, in the reports used here, describes that march. The link between the march and the education holiday is therefore unconfirmed in the Pakistani copy available for this article.
Peshawar schools closed on the strength of the deputy commissioner’s notification. Readers should keep that district order separate from the emergency explanation given for the other three districts.
Exams and the day after
Monday is a full closure for public and private schools, colleges and universities in the four districts named above. Candidates in Mardan and Nowshera will not sit papers that had been scheduled for the day. No revised date appears in the notifications, according to ProPakistani.
These accounts do not say whether classrooms reopen the following day. The orders described for Swabi, Mardan and Nowshera are limited to 12 October. With Peshawar schools closed for the day, and the same restriction in place in the other three districts, the only confirmed change is that shutdown, plus the cancellation of Monday’s exams in Mardan and Nowshera.
