DRAFT — for review (not published)

• Suggested slug: sindh-private-schools-safety-rules-tightened
• Category: National
• Focus keyphrase: Sindh private schools safety rules
• SEO title: Sindh Private Schools Safety Rules Tightened
• Meta description: After the Peshawar school collapse, Sindh orders private schools to prove building safety, hold fitness certificates and shut unsafe premises.
• Tags: Sindh private schools, school safety Pakistan, Peshawar school collapse, education department Sindh, private school registration, building safety
• Original element: own data point — links to Feature Pakistan’s own reporting on the Peshawar collapse (FIR registered against the school’s owners and contractor; families demanding justice), which triggered this Sindh directive
• Source: Tribune (“Peshawar tragedy puts private schools under safety scanner”, published 17 Oct 2026, 01:46 PKT)

Sindh Tightens Safety Rules for Private Schools

The deadly collapse of a school building in Peshawar has prompted the Sindh government to tighten safety requirements for private educational institutions across the province, The Express Tribune reported, in one of the first policy responses to the tragedy outside Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

In a stern directive issued on Friday, the Sindh School Education and Literacy Department ordered private schools to ensure the structural integrity of their buildings, obtain valid fitness certificates and inspect electrical and gas installations.

Institutions operating in unsafe premises have been told to suspend academic activities immediately, while those responsible for violations could face legal action.

What the directive requires

The Directorate of Inspection and Registration of Private Institutions issued the instructions through a letter dated October 16, signed by Additional Director Registration Rafia Javed.

The directive requires school owners, principals and administrators to ensure immediate and complete compliance with the safety measures. The letter stated that the Peshawar tragedy had underscored the urgent need to protect the lives of students, teachers and other school staff. It made clear that no educational institution would be permitted to operate in a building that posed a threat to its occupants.

Under the new instructions, schools requiring repairs, renovation or maintenance must complete the necessary work without delay. Any portion of a building declared unsafe must remain closed until the required repairs have been carried out and the premises have been deemed safe.

School owners and principals have also been directed to immediately notify the relevant directorate if their buildings are found to be dilapidated, damaged, structurally weak or otherwise hazardous. Academic activities in such buildings must be suspended without delay.

Transfers for affected students

To prevent disruption to students’ education, the directorate will facilitate the transfer of children from affected schools to nearby safe institutions.

The compliance burden falls on thousands of private schools in Karachi, Hyderabad and other Sindh cities, many of which operate in converted houses or ageing buildings. The directive does not give a deadline for the fitness certificates, but it says unsafe premises must close immediately.

The Peshawar tragedy behind the move

The Peshawar roof collapse at a school in Dir Colony has left the city grieving, with families losing multiple children in a single classroom. Feature Pakistan has followed the story from the start: an FIR was registered against the school’s owners and contractor, and families of the dead children have been demanding justice as investigations move slowly.

The Sindh directive is the latest sign that the tragedy is forcing a province-wide reckoning over how private schools are regulated. Sindh has previously moved on school standards, including new rules for educational boards, but building safety inspections have rarely been enforced with this level of urgency. Punjab has tightened accountability from the academic side too, with action against schools posting zero results.

Whether the directive leads to real inspections or ends up as another paper order will depend on the directorate’s field staff, who must now check buildings across the province. For parents, the immediate question is simpler: whether their children’s school can prove its building is safe.