A province-wide safety campaign led by the Emergency Services Department Punjab has trained more than 22,500 students and staff in emergency preparedness through coordinated evacuation drills across educational institutions.
Lahore topped the provincial monitoring report by conducting drills in 49 institutions and training 3,170 individuals, including 2,919 students and 251 faculty and staff. Rawalpindi followed with 1,835 participants trained, reflecting strong local coordination in both districts.
Muzaffargarh staged drills in 11 institutions and trained 1,433 participants with a notable share of staff involvement. Sahiwal reported 1,164 trainees while Gujranwala recorded 938 participants through exercises held in schools, colleges and other educational setups, and these districts were recognised for consistent engagement during the monitoring period.
Across Punjab the campaign reached 277 schools, 100 colleges, 8 universities, 1 madrassa and 6 other institutions, with the overall breakdown showing 20,757 students and 1,747 faculty and staff trained in emergency preparedness.
Mid-ranking districts including Bahawalnagar, Layyah, Multan, Rajanpur and Faisalabad each trained between 700 and 900 individuals and officials said these areas have clear capacity to expand coverage by adding more institutions to daily drills.
At the lower end of the ranking, districts such as Murree, Hafizabad, Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin and Narowal reported fewer drills and trainees. Authorities acknowledged logistical constraints but urged these districts to accelerate implementation so that emergency preparedness across Punjab is more uniform.
Emergency Services Punjab officials emphasised that the evacuation drills form part of a continuous safety campaign to strengthen response awareness among students and educators and encouraged lower-ranking districts to increase the pace of training and broaden outreach to ensure safer educational environments province-wide.
