LAHORE: The School Education Department (SED) has ordered 100 percent verification of student enrolment data in government schools across Punjab, including Lahore, in a move aimed at preventing alleged fake enrolment.
School heads have been directed to update accurate and up-to-date enrolment data for their students on the online portal. Head teachers will verify name-wise enrolment data for students from pre-primary to class eight, while name-wise data for class nine students will also be updated and verified on the portal.
The department has ordered that details of the science, arts and Matric Tech groups of class nine students be entered as well. Enrolment data for Urdu-medium and English-medium students will be provided separately.
School heads have been instructed to complete the verification and certification of enrolment data within three days. The responsibility for the collection and verification of 100 percent of school data has been assigned to the Chief Executive Officers of Education.
CEOs have also been directed to verify the additional usable stock of free textbooks. The requirement for free textbooks for the coming academic session 2027-28 will be determined on the basis of the newly verified enrolment data.
According to the School Education Department, enrolment data and the record of surplus free textbooks are to be completed by September 8, 2026. A dedicated online portal has also been activated to allow errors or gaps in enrolment data to be corrected.
Enrolment figures in Punjab’s public school system are not a statistical formality. They drive the allocation of free textbooks, the distribution of teaching staff, non-salary budget releases to school councils and the reporting of provincial education indicators. Inflated rolls therefore carry a direct fiscal cost, most visibly in the annual textbook print run, which is calculated against declared student numbers.
Linking the free textbook indent for 2027-28 to verified data is the clearest signal of intent in the notification. It converts the verification exercise from a paperwork requirement into a budgeting control, since schools that cannot substantiate their rolls will see their textbook entitlement adjusted accordingly.
The separation of Urdu-medium and English-medium enrolment and the recording of class nine group selections also feed into printing decisions, as textbook titles and quantities differ by medium of instruction and by elective group.
The department’s instructions do not set out what action will follow where discrepancies are found between declared and verified rolls, or whether the exercise will extend to attendance records alongside enrolment. The three-day window is also a demanding one for large schools with several thousand students on the rolls.
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