Haze pollution: Four Malaysian states still close schools

Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

Malaysia’s Ministry of Education said on October 22 that all schools in the country that had been closed since October 19 would reopen on October 23, with the exception of schools in four northern states.

Around 1,600 schools and 728,739 enrolled students in the Kedah, Penang, Perlis and Perak states will remain closed due to the severe and prolonged local haze pollution.

As of 5 pm on October 22 (local time), there were still six areas with an air pollution index (API) level deemed harmful to human health, of which Kedah state had three areas, Penang state had two and Perlis had one.

The API measured in Perak state is lower than the other three.

Penang state’s government recommended the ministry form a state-level committee to disseminate information on the closure of schools due to haze pollution.

Ramasamy Palanisamy, Deputy Chief Minister of the state of Penang, said it is necessary to establish a coordination mechanism between the federal government and state governments because official information has been slow to reach states.

The haze caused by forest fires mainly in Sumatra and Kalimantan has affected Indonesia since late June and other countries since September, forcing Malaysia and Singapore to close their schools for the sake of their students’ health.-VNA