All public and private schools in Punjab reopened today as educational activities officially began again after the summer break.

After the long holidays, schools were alive again as students returned to their educational institutions with passion and excitement. Teachers also warmly welcomed pupils at the beginning of the new academic term.

With the resumption of teaching activities in the classrooms, the school courtyards and corridors were again filled with the sounds of children.

Parents were happy to see their children back to school and hoped that the new school year would offer success, hard work and a brighter future for pupils.

Teachers around the province welcomed pupils back to school with heartfelt hugs and some institutions gave out chocolates to the kids.

Meanwhile, after summer holidays, Punjab Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat welcomed the students back to school.

The education minister said the timings for schools across Punjab have been fixed from Monday to Friday and asked the educational institutions to plan their schedules according to the timings mentioned in the notification. School hours will be from 8 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. “The journey of learning will move forward with renewed energy from where it stopped,” he stated. Teachers, it was said, should be called upon to play a full part in restoring the continuity of education of children whose studies had been broken off over the holidays for whatever cause.

Rana Sikandar Hayat said it was a collective responsibility to bring every child to school and the key challenge was to prevent the rise in number of out of school children.

The provincial education minister said conversations were under way to establish a new strategy to avoid educational losses in future.

— Polling for Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly special seats will be held today and voting will be held in the Assembly Hall in Muzaffarabad.

Polling will begin at 10 a.m. and will continue till 1 p.m., Election Commission official said. Abdul Rehman Arain has previously been returned unopposed to the seat for abroad Kashmiris. Arain filed his nomination papers on Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) ticket but Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) could not field candidate against him.

Six candidates are in the race for five seats designated for women, the spokeswoman said. The PML-N had fielded four women candidates and the PPP had fielded three. However, PPP candidate Shaheen Kausar Dar has withdrawn her candidacy papers.

PPP’s Sahibzada Zulfiqar Ali and PML-N’s Barrister Iftikhar Gilani are in the running for the technocrat seat.

The spokesman for the Election Commission said that Mazhar Saeed of PML-N and Hafiz Tariq Mahmood of PPP are in the run for the seat allocated for Ulema and Mashaikh.

The Punjab government has extended the ban on flying drones in the open area across the province for another 30 days citing security concerns.

The Punjab Home Department said that the ban was enforced under Section 144(6) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898. The rule will keep the ban on the use of outdoor drones but will permit limited use of tiny drones during events in halls and marquees. It will be on to event organisers to ensure they are used safely.

Intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies are not subject to the restriction. Drones should not be used for agricultural, irrigation and research objectives without the written consent of the “Safe Drone Usage Committee” at the district level.

The Home Department said that use of drones for the relevant objectives will be exempted from the prohibition after acquiring written approval from the committee.

Public safety, maintenance of law and order and protection of property were among the top concerns of the Punjab administration, said a spokesperson of the Home Department. Orders for tight implementation have also been issued to administrations and police around the province.