Check if Punjab Schools Are Closed for Smog: Where the Official Order Appears

No smog closure of schools has been ordered in Punjab for 2026 so far. When one comes, it starts as an order from the Director General of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the School Education Department then issues its own notification. Both are posted on official websites: epd.punjab.gov.pk and schools.punjab.gov.pk.

Every November, a screenshot of a "schools closed" notice goes round family WhatsApp groups. Some are real. Some are last year's. We read both departments' order pages on 3 October 2026 and went through the full chain of 2024 and 2025 orders, so you can tell a live order from an old one.

Smog closures start with an EPA order, then a school notification

The EPA closes schools for smog using section 6(1)(t) of the Punjab Environmental Protection Act 1997, which lets it take "all necessary measures" to prevent and control pollution. The School Education Department then notifies the closure and tells district education officers to enforce it.

The trigger is air quality. In 2024 the EPA's orders cited a "Critical Air Pollution Event", declared under the Health Advisory System for Critical Air Pollution Events (HAS-CAPEs), which the government notified on 13 December 2022. The provincial committee under that system met on 21 October 2024 and declared such an event in Lahore.

So a closure is not decided by a school, a private schools' association or a district. It comes from the EPA, for named divisions or districts, for named dates. The weather side, such as fog and cold still air, comes from the official weather forecast, but the closure decision rests with the EPA.

Check a closure order in four steps

Look for a numbered EPA order on epd.punjab.gov.pk, then a matching notification on schools.punjab.gov.pk. Check the date, the districts named, and the end date. If you find neither, treat the forwarded notice as unconfirmed.

1. Open the EPA's orders page. Go to epd.punjab.gov.pk, then Resource Center, then Notifications and Orders. Smog orders sit under a season heading. On 3 October 2026 the heading still read "SMOG- 25".
2. Open the School Education Department's notifications. Go to schools.punjab.gov.pk and choose Notifications. Closures are titled plainly, for example "Notification Regarding Closing of Public & Private Schools".
3. Read the order number and date. A real EPA order carries a number such as 123/DG/EPA/2024 and the date it was signed. A school notification carries a number such as SO(A-I)1-31/2022. Check the year.
4. Check your district is named. Closures often cover only some divisions, and a district can be exempted.

Your school will usually tell you as well. But a school message is not the order. The order is what makes the closure binding on private schools and tuition centres.

What the 2024 smog orders closed, and when

In November 2024 the EPA closed schools in four divisions from 7 to 17 November, extended it to the other five divisions from 13 November, exempting Murree, then reopened schools in stages from 19 and 20 November. Each step had its own numbered order.

The orders conflict on one point. The School Education notification of 15 November said the closure ran till 24 November. The EPA's later orders of 18 and 19 November reopened schools earlier, on 19 and 20 November, citing rain and a change in the wind. The later EPA orders are what schools followed.

The first closure named 18 districts: Lahore, Sheikhupura, Kasur, Nankana Sahib, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Hafizabad, Mandi Bahauddin, Sialkot, Narowal, Faisalabad, Chiniot, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh, Multan, Lodhran, Vehari and Khanewal.

Reopening came with conditions

When schools reopened in November 2024, the EPA set four conditions: no school to open before 8:45 am, masks for all students and staff, a full ban on outdoor sports and outdoor activities, and closing times staggered class by class to ease traffic.

These conditions matter because they can come back without any closure. In 2025, the EPA did not close schools for smog. Instead, its Order No. 401 of 1 November 2025 told all public and private schools and special education centres in Punjab not to open before 8:45 am, from 3 November 2025 to 31 January 2026.

That order set penalties for schools that broke it: Rs 100,000 to Rs 500,000 for a first violation and Rs 600,000 to Rs 1,000,000 for each later one, under the Punjab smog rules of 2023. It also asked the public to report violations on the EPA helpline 1373 or the Green Punjab app.

Winter vacations are a separate notification

Winter vacations are not a smog closure. The School Education Department notifies them on its own. For 2025 to 2026 it set winter vacations from 22 December 2025 to 10 January 2026, and its list shows a later extension notice for 12 to 18 January 2026.

A forwarded notice that mixes the two, or gives a winter vacation as a smog closure, is a sign it was edited. Check the original title on the department's page.

To judge whether a closure is likely, watch the official reading. The EPA's Lahore air quality dashboard is what its orders are based on. In 2025 the school timing order cited readings of 201 to 400 in Lahore from 19 to 30 October. For what to do at home on those days, see how to protect children from smog.

Common questions

Are schools closed for smog in Punjab today?

Not as of 3 October 2026. Neither the EPA's orders page nor the School Education Department's notifications page carries a 2026 smog closure.

Who decides to close schools for smog in Punjab?

The Director General of the EPA orders it under section 6(1)(t) of the Punjab Environmental Protection Act 1997. The School Education Department then notifies it.

Where is the official smog closure notification published?

On epd.punjab.gov.pk under Notifications and Orders, and on schools.punjab.gov.pk under Notifications. Both posted the 2024 orders.

Do smog closures apply to private schools and tuition centres?

Yes. The 2024 orders covered all public and private institutions up to Grade 12, including private tuition centres.

What AQI closes schools in Punjab?

No fixed number is written into the orders we read. The 2024 orders followed a declared Critical Air Pollution Event, with averages that the EPA said had crossed 500 in some districts.

What time do Punjab schools open during smog season?

Last season, not before 8:45 am, under EPA Order No. 401 of 2025, from 3 November 2025 to 31 January 2026. No order for this season has been issued yet.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked at 2:30 am PKT on 3 October 2026. We read the EPA's notifications and orders page and the School Education Department's notifications page, and opened each order cited: School Education notifications of 6, 12 and 15 November 2024; EPA Orders No. 123 of 12 November, No. 136 of 18 November and No. 139 of 19 November 2024; EPA Order No. 401 of 1 November 2025; and the winter vacation notification of 4 December 2025. EPA Order No. 108 and Order No. 127 are cited by number in the notifications we read; we did not open those two documents themselves. The 18 November and 19 November reopening orders conflict with the 15 November extension, as explained above.