The Punjab School Education Department has directed authorities to recover excess stipend payments mistakenly credited to thousands of School Teacher Interns (STIs) after a payroll processing error resulted in full-month salaries being paid during the summer vacation period.
According to official documents, around 35,000 daily wage teachers received higher-than-entitled payments as part of their May 2026 stipends. The department later clarified that STIs were eligible for payment only up to May 21, as summer vacations began on May 22, 2026.
Officials said a system error led to the processing of full-month stipend bills, resulting in the payment of an additional 10 days’ salary covering the period from May 22 to May 31.
The department has instructed all district and school authorities to recover the overpaid amounts from interns under their supervision and deposit the recovered funds into the government treasury by June 15.
The issue has sparked concern among affected teachers, many of whom said they believed the payments were legitimate and had already spent the money on household and Eid-related expenses.
Several interns expressed disappointment over the recovery order, arguing that the overpayment resulted from an administrative mistake rather than any action on their part. They have urged the government to reconsider the decision or introduce a more flexible recovery mechanism.
The development comes weeks after the Punjab government announced early summer vacations across educational institutions due to extreme weather conditions, shortening the working period for temporary teaching staff during May.
Education officials have maintained that the recovery process is necessary to ensure compliance with approved payment schedules and public financial management rules.
