Sindh schools, colleges to have classes six days a week from Aug 1

KARACHI: The Sindh government announced on Thursday that classes would be held six days a week at schools and colleges in the province from August 1 until further notice. The decision was announced in two separate notifications issued by the Sindh Education and Literacy Department and the College Education Department. In its notification, seen by Dawn and dated July 29, the Education and Literacy Department said: “In supercession of this department’s notification of even number dated March 31, 2026, it is hereby notified that all public and private educational institutions under the administrative control of the School and Literacy Education Department, Government of Sindh, shall observe a six-day working week (Monday to Saturday) with effect from August 1, 2026 till further orders.” Similarly, the notification issued by the College Education Department, issued on July 30 and seen by Dawn, stated: “In supercession of this department’s notification of even number dated March 31, 2026, it is hereby notified that all public and private educational institutions under the administrative control of the College Education Department, government of Sindh, shall observe a six working days in the week (Monday to Saturday) with effect from August 1, 2026 … till further orders.” According to the notification, work timings at colleges will be from 8:30pm to 1:30pm from Monday to Thursday and on Saturday during the morning shift, and from 8:30am to 11:30am on Friday. During the evening shift, work timings would be from 3pm to 7pm Monday to Thursday and on Saturday, and from 2:30pm to 5pm on Friday. On March 31, as cited in the two notifications, the Sindh government had announced that Saturday and Sunday would be off days at educational institutions as part of the austerity and fuel conservation measures adopted to deal with the economic impact of the US-Israeli war on Iran. Sindh chief minister’s spokesperson, however, told Dawn that teachers had also started taking off on Saturdays while the March decision applied to only students. As a result, education and completion of the annual curriculum were getting affected, he said.