Punjab Approves New School Curriculum With a 25% Lighter Book Load

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz approved a new school curriculum on 24 September 2026. It covers English, Mathematics, Social Studies, Urdu and Early Childhood Education. Reports say the book load falls by 25 per cent and textbooks will carry QR codes that open video lessons. Nothing changes in the current school year.

A Grade 3 school bag in Punjab can hold more books than a child can comfortably carry. The province now says it wants fewer of them. The new school curriculum in Punjab was presented at an education reform meeting in Lahore by the Punjab Education Curriculum, Training and Assessment Authority, or PECTAA, and the Chief Minister signed off on it.

PECTAA is the body that took over the old Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board. Dawn reported in March 2025 that it merged three bodies: the Textbook Board, the teacher training academy QAED and the Punjab Examination Commission. So the same authority now writes the curriculum, prints the books, trains the teachers and runs the tests.

Punjab approved a new curriculum for five subject areas

The approved curriculum covers English, Mathematics, Social Studies, Urdu and Early Childhood Education. The Chief Minister also told officials to build an artificial intelligence curriculum for Grade 1 to Grade 12 and to finish printing the new textbooks before March.

Every report we read agrees on the five subject areas and on the March printing deadline. None of them names which grades the new English, Mathematics, Social Studies and Urdu books are for. The only grade range mentioned anywhere is Grade 1 to Grade 12, and that is for the AI curriculum, which has not been written yet.

The Nation, Dunya News and TechJuice all describe the reform as a curriculum for government schools. That matters, and we come back to it below.

Textbooks will be lighter and carry QR codes for video lessons

The stated aim is to cut the book burden by 25 per cent and move children away from rote learning, which means memorising text without understanding it. Each new textbook is to carry QR codes. A parent or child scans the code with a phone and a video lesson on that topic opens.

There is a small but real difference in how outlets describe the 25 per cent. ProPakistani says the number of books will be cut by 25 per cent. The Nation, Dunya News, 24 News and TechJuice say the burden or load of textbooks falls by 25 per cent. Fewer books and thinner books are not the same thing for a school bag. We could not read an official statement to settle it, so we report both readings.

The QR codes are useful only if the family has a smartphone and mobile data. The reports do not say whether the videos will also work offline or be shown in class. That is worth asking your child's school once the books arrive.

Nothing changes for your child in the current school year

The current books stay in use. The new textbooks are still to be printed, and the deadline is before March. No report says any book changes mid-year, so a child in a Punjab government school this term keeps studying from the books already issued.

Printing before March suggests the new books are meant for the next school year, which in Punjab's public schools usually starts in spring. That is our reading of the deadline. It is not an announcement, and no report names the session in which the new books will be used.

Here is what a parent can sensibly do now.

1. Keep using the current books. Do not buy anything new for this session because of this news.
2. Hold on to this year's books in good condition. If a younger sibling follows, the old books may or may not match the new curriculum, and that is not yet known.
3. Ignore any seller claiming to have the "new Punjab curriculum books" before the official release. The books are not printed yet.
4. If your child is in a private school, ask the school in writing whether it will follow the new government books next year.
5. Wait for the official list of books and grades from PECTAA or the School Education Department before spending money.

Several key details have not been announced yet

The meeting approved the direction and the subjects. It did not publish the list of books, the grades, the start date or the price. Until PECTAA issues those, any detail beyond the table below is guesswork, including ours.

Private schools are not mentioned in any report

None of the reports we read says whether private schools must adopt the new curriculum. They describe it as a reform for government schools. Many private schools in Punjab use the provincial textbooks, but whether they must switch has not been stated.

So the honest answer for a private school parent is: ask the school, and do not accept a list of "new books" to buy until the government has published one. A private school also cannot force you to buy books from one shop. Section 13 of the Punjab Free and Compulsory Education Act 2014 says a private school shall not require a parent to buy textbooks, uniform or other material from a particular vendor, which is one of the rules behind the limits on school fee increases in Punjab.

Punjab already bans corporal punishment in schools under a 2014 law

Punjab is not starting from zero. Section 16(4) of the Punjab Free and Compulsory Education Act 2014 says a teacher or school head shall ensure a child is not subjected to corporal punishment or harassment. The new step is a planned separate law, which has not been drafted publicly.

We read the Act on the Punjab Laws website. It defines a school to include government, aided and private schools and recognised madrassas. It covers children aged five to sixteen. But the only penalty for breaking the corporal punishment rule is disciplinary action as gross misconduct under the teacher's service rules or contract. It is not a criminal offence under that Act.

Islamabad went further. Its ICT Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Act 2021 bans corporal punishment across schools, madrassas and childcare settings in the capital, but it applies to Islamabad only. Sindh has a law of its own too. A Punjab law could add real penalties, and it could deal with Section 89 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which lets a guardian or teacher raise "good faith" as a defence. No draft has been published, so we cannot say what it will contain.

The meeting also backed "discipline corners" in classrooms, a quiet space used instead of physical punishment, according to The Nation and 24 News.

Teachers will get mental health training and weekly training days

The meeting approved mental health training for teachers, which reports call a first for Punjab. Visiting psychologists in every district were proposed, with online counselling for students. One day a week is set aside for teacher training, taught by the textbook authors.

ProPakistani and 24 News say that day is Saturday. The Nation says only one day a week. The reports also say 35,000 teachers in 31 tehsils across 12 districts have finished English language training. We could not check that figure at source.

The counselling plan is still a proposal. Until it exists, the free helplines and the family steps in support for a child after a bad exam result are what is actually available today. For older students, this week's 12th class result from the Punjab boards is a separate matter, run by the boards and not changed by this decision.

Curriculum is a provincial subject. This decision binds Punjab only, just as Sindh's cut in school hours applied to Sindh only.

Common questions

Has Punjab approved a new school curriculum?

Yes. Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz approved it at an education reform meeting in Lahore on 24 September 2026. PECTAA prepared it.

Which subjects are in the new Punjab curriculum?

English, Mathematics, Social Studies, Urdu and Early Childhood Education. An AI curriculum for Grade 1 to 12 is still to be developed.

Do I need to buy new books this year?

No. The new books are still to be printed, with a deadline before March. Keep using the current books this session.

Does the new curriculum apply to private schools?

Not stated. Reports describe it as a government school reform. Ask your child's school in writing before buying anything.

Is corporal punishment already banned in Punjab schools?

Yes, under Section 16(4) of the Punjab Free and Compulsory Education Act 2014, with disciplinary action as the penalty. A new, separate law is planned.

What are the QR codes in the new textbooks for?

Each code opens a video lesson on that topic when scanned with a phone. It needs a smartphone and data.

Last checked and sources

Last checked 24 September 2026. The approval, subjects, 25 per cent figure, QR codes, AI curriculum, March printing deadline, teacher training, counselling proposal and corporal punishment consensus are reported by ProPakistani, The Nation, Dunya News, 24 News and TechJuice, all dated 24 September 2026. We tried the official record first. The DGPR Punjab website loaded but carried no release on this meeting when we checked, and the PECTAA and old Textbook Board addresses did not respond, so every detail of the meeting is reported rather than read at source. PECTAA's merger of three bodies is from Dawn of 26 March 2025. The corporal punishment rule and the definition of a school were read by us in the Punjab Free and Compulsory Education Act 2014 on the Punjab Laws website. Once PECTAA publishes the book list and grades, that notice replaces this page.