Jalandhar 14 October : With a statewide Punjab Bandh scheduled for Thursday, October 15, parents and students across the state are trying to determine whether schools will remain open or closed. As of late Wednesday night, however, no blanket statewide holiday has been announced for all government and private schools in Punjab because of the bandh.
The bandh has been called from 6 AM to 5 PM following the killing of anti-drug activist Parvinder Singh Jhota in Mansa. With several organisations extending support and road movement expected to be affected in different parts of Punjab, uncertainty has increased among parents over whether sending children to school will be practical or safe.
For government schools, no statewide order declaring October 15 a school holiday has been issued in the latest available official updates. Unless the Punjab Government, School Education Department or a respective district administration issues fresh instructions, government schools are expected to follow the applicable official schedule.
The situation is different for private schools. Individual school managements may decide to suspend physical classes or declare a holiday depending on local road conditions, transport availability and safety concerns. Therefore, students studying in CBSE, ICSE, Cambridge or other privately managed institutions should rely on the message or notice issued directly by their school.
In Jalandhar, no district-wide order closing all schools had been officially announced as of the latest update on Wednesday night. This means parents should not assume that every school in the district will automatically remain closed because of the Punjab Bandh.
However, the situation can differ from one school to another. School buses may face difficulty operating on routes affected by demonstrations or road blockades, and some institutions may decide to remain closed even in the absence of a government holiday order.
Educational institutions managed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) are among those for which closure has been announced as the organisation has extended support to the October 15 bandh. Other universities and individual educational institutions may also issue their own separate notices.
Parents are advised to check their school's official WhatsApp group, SMS, mobile app, website or direct communication from the school administration before sending children to school on Thursday morning. Messages circulating on social media without an official school or government notice should not be treated as confirmation of a holiday.
The most important point is that the Punjab Bandh itself does not automatically make October 15 a statewide school holiday. A school closure becomes official only when the competent government authority, district administration or individual institution issues the relevant order.
Since the bandh will remain in effect from 6 AM to 5 PM and road traffic may be affected at different locations, parents and students should continue checking for any late-night or early-morning announcement from their respective schools and local administration.
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