All government and private schools in Kashmir will follow new timings from Thursday 15 October 2026, according to an order issued by the Director of School Education Kashmir (DSEK), reported by Kashmir Observer on 14 October. Schools within the Srinagar municipal limits will function from 10 am to 3:30 pm, and schools outside the municipal limits from 10:30 am to 4 pm.
The order covers both government and private institutions and contains no listed exceptions. It states that it “shall be adhered to strictly by all the concerned institutions without any deviation”, the report said. The department’s notification does not give a reason for the change, and the report does not say whether it is a seasonal or winter schedule.
The two timetables are the same length: both run for five and a half hours, so schools outside Srinagar simply start and finish half an hour later than those inside the municipal limits. The later slot outside the city may reflect longer travel times for pupils and staff, but that is an inference, not a reason stated in the order. IndiaX24 has not seen the circular itself and relies on the Kashmir Observer report.
It is not clear whether the Jammu division has a different timetable. The report covers only Kashmir, and the reports reviewed do not mention any order for Jammu. In Jammu and Kashmir, school timings are often revised twice a year to reflect seasonal changes, and the winter arrangements in the Kashmir division usually involve later starts because of the cold. The new order, however, does not describe itself as seasonal.
The change arrives as the weather is turning. Fresh snow fell on the upper reaches of the Valley on 13 October, and Srinagar’s daytime maximum was 20 degrees Celsius, about 2.8 degrees below normal, with rain forecast until 15 October. Parents and school buses will have to adjust to the new schedule on the first day it takes effect. Heavy rain or snow can also lead to local closures, which are announced separately by district administrations.
The Director of School Education Kashmir, or DSEK, is the official who runs school education in the Kashmir division, and the order is issued under that authority. The report does not list the districts or the number of schools affected, and IndiaX24 has not confirmed those figures. Parents who want to confirm the timing for a particular school should check the circular issued by the school itself.
For families the practical points are straightforward: check the school’s own circular, note whether the school lies within the municipal limits of Srinagar, and plan transport accordingly. Private schools, which sometimes run longer days, are bound by the same order. IndiaX24 will report on any clarification from the Directorate, on a corresponding order for the Jammu division and on any weather-related changes to the schedule. The order was reported on Wednesday 14 October, giving schools only a day of notice before the change took effect on Thursday. Teachers and transport operators will therefore have to adjust quickly, and parents of children who travel long distances by bus should confirm pick-up times with their schools. The department has not said whether it will review the timings if the weather worsens in the coming weeks.
Featured image: Dal Lake in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir (file photo, 2018). Photo by Dashrathgoyal85, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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