The Punjab School Education Department is set to take action against 41 government schools in Lahore after their Class 9 students recorded alarmingly low pass rates, with nearly 2,200 schools across the province falling below a 20 percent pass rate.

Scale of the Problem

According to the department’s review, Government High School Wasanpura recorded a zero percent pass rate in the Class 9 examinations, while 27 other schools in Lahore saw fewer than 10 students pass. Provincewide, close to 2,200 government schools registered pass rates under 20 percent, pointing to a broader performance problem beyond the provincial capital alone.

Action Being Taken

The department will issue show-cause notices to the heads and teachers of the affected schools, requiring them to formally explain the poor outcomes. Officials have said they will review each school’s performance before deciding on further disciplinary or corrective measures.

Explaining the rationale behind the move, the Punjab School Education Department said the exercise is “aimed at improving education standards, raising student performance, and ensuring accountability in poorly performing schools.” The department also plans to examine the underlying causes behind the low pass rates and determine individual responsibility where necessary.

What Comes Next

While the specific causes behind the poor results have not yet been detailed publicly, the department’s next steps will involve reviewing responses from school heads and teachers before deciding on any further administrative action. The move signals a tougher accountability stance from the Punjab government toward chronically underperforming public schools, at a time when education outcomes remain a major policy concern across the province.

Parents and education watchers in Lahore will be closely following how the department follows through on this review, given the scale of schools involved and the sharp gap in performance between the worst-affected institutions and the rest of the public school network.

For more on related developments, see our coverage of CDA’s operation against illegal buildings in Islamabad and Punjab’s digital arms license overhaul.