Punjab shuts down all campuses today

LAHORE:In an abrupt move, the Punjab government on Thursday announced closure of all public and private educational institutions, including schools, colleges and universities across the province on Friday (today).

While the notifications respectively issued by the School Education Department, Higher Education Department and other education related departments did not mention any specific reason for the closure, it is generally believed that it was linked with the ongoing protests by students against a recent alleged rape incident in one of the campuses of a private college.

The protests were held in the provincial metropolis by the students on Thursday as well which remained peaceful, including the one held by a handful of students outside the Punjab Assembly.

However, the protests turned violent in some cities, including Rawalpindi. Police reportedly arrested at least 250 violent protesters in the City. Sources said another possible reason was Friday’s nationwide protest call by the PTI against the constitutional amendments package and incarceration of the party founder Imran Khan. They said the move was aimed at stopping students and PTI workers from possibly joining hands and protesting together.

Meanwhile, Board of Intermediate & Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore has postponed the paper scheduled for Friday (today) of the ongoing Intermediate Second Annual 2024. The postponed papers included Physics, Outline of Home Economics while the second time papers included Physics, Geography, Agriculture and Nursing subjects. The new date of the postponed papers will be announced later.