Fact-check: Notification of 10-day school holidays for Basant is fake

Ahead of the Basant festivities scheduled to be celebrated in Lahore from February 6 to 8, a public notice purportedly issued by Punjab’s School Education Department began circulating online. The notice claimed that the department had announced a 10-day holiday for all public and private schools from February 1 to February 10 in celebration of Basant.

The document further alleged that school rooftops could be leased for festival-related activities.

The notification is entirely fabricated.

Claim

A notification dated January 26 circulating on social media purportedly shows that the Punjab government ordered the closure of all public and private schools across the province from February 1 to February 10, 2026, due to the Basant festival.

The document also claims that school rooftops may be leased or auctioned for Basant celebrations and directs district education authorities to ensure compliance. The notification is signed by Mudassir Riaz Malik, the secretary of the School Education Department.

Fact

Officials confirmed that no such notification has been issued by the provincial government, while an independent analysis found the document to be self generated.

Mudassir Riaz Malik, the secretary of the School Education Department whose name appears on the viral document, told Geo Fact Check over the phone that no directives had been issued by his department to shut down schools from February 1 to February 10.

Rana Sikandar Hayat, the Punjab school education minister, also told Geo Fact Check over the phone that the notice was fake.

Hayat categorically rejected the claims circulating on social media, stating that there was no possibility of province-wide school holidays in connection with Basant. He clarified that all schools across Punjab would remain open.

He further added that since Basant activities fall on Saturday and Sunday, which are already regular holidays, there is no need for additional school closures.

Noor ul Huda, the public relations officer to the Punjab school education minister, also told Geo Fact Check over the phone that the notification was fake.

Huda further clarified that any holiday related to the Basant festival on February 6 or 7, if declared, would be a local holiday decided solely by the concerned deputy commissioner. He emphasised that any such notification would be issued by the deputy commissioner’s office and not by the School Education Department.

Attestiv, a digital forensic analysis tool, assigned the document a Tamper Score of 93, indicating a high likelihood that it was generated using artificial intelligence tools.

Verdict: Punjab government officials confirmed that no province-wide school holiday directives for Basant have been issued. Any local holiday, if declared, would be notified by the deputy commissioner and not by the School Education Department.

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