Malaysian schools close for 2 days due to haze

KUALA LUMPUR — All schools in Malaysia except for Kelantan, Sarawak and Sabah will be closed tomorrow (Oct 50 and Tuesday, Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid said, due to the worsening smoke conditions.

In a brief statement on his Facebook page, Mr Mahdzir said the evening school session for Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu and Johor today will commenced as scheduled.

“Teachers and students do not have to come to school.”

This is the third time schools have been forced to close due to smoke from forest fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra in Indonesia.

“The schools involved also are not required to replace the school sessions following the closure.”

However, he said the examinations for Form 3 (PT3), 5 (SPM) and 6 (STPM) will continue as scheduled, adding that candidates would be assisted and reminded to comply with instructions issued by authorities during the smoke.

At a function in Alor Setar, Kedah today, Mr Mahdzir, as reported by The Star Online said the Education Ministry will continue to monitor the air pollution index before deciding on the need to close schools for Kelantan, Sabah and Sarawak.

“If the haze condition deteriorates in these three states, we will also take the same measure,” he was quoted as saying.

It was reported this morning that API had breached the 301 “hazardous” mark in Selangor’s capital Shah Alam.

As at noon, air quality in Shah Alam dropped to 282 while five other areas remained at “very unhealthy” air conditions – Batu Muda in Kuala Lumpur at 245, Petaling Jaya (231), Banting (233), Port Klang (237) and Putrajaya (230).

Among the areas with unhealthy air quality were Nilai (198), Seremban (191), Malacca city (162), Bukit Rambai (165) and Muar (140).

API readings of between 0 and 50 indicate good air quality; 51-100 moderate, 101-200 unhealthy, 201-300 very unhealthy and over 301 hazardous.

Meanwhile, Sultan Abdul Halim Airport in Alor Setar and Sultan Azlan Shah Airport in Ipoh have been reopened and all operations were running as usual, Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad said in its latest tweet. THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER