Johor schools to reopen on Oct 26 after haze eases and closures are lifted

Schools and other educational institutions across Johor will open their doors again on Monday (Oct 26), after the haze eased enough for authorities to lift the closures, according to CNA.

The announcement came from Muhammad Naqib Md Ghazali, who chairs the Johor committee covering education and information. He said it came after agencies reviewed air quality readings and health risk assessments, The Star reported on Saturday.

Why the decision was made

Muhammad Naqib said the Air Pollutant Index (API) readings across Johor had been trending down over the past five days. He added that a change in wind direction from Oct 24, higher humidity and expected rain are also anticipated to help cut the effects of the haze. Also weighed in the decision were the end-of-year exams and the groundwork for the national secondary school examination in Malaysia.

Measures will include wearing masks, and school activities will be monitored according to the prevailing API readings. He said the state government and relevant agencies will keep watching the haze closely, and any changes or further action will be announced through official channels.

Weeks of closures

Schools in Johor first shut on Oct 8 and 9, and the closures were later extended to Oct 23. The Star had earlier reported that the disruption touched 1,198 schools and over 617,000 pupils.

Outdoor school activities must halt once readings reach 100 or more, and from Oct 15 the Malaysian education ministry has set the closure level at an API above 200. Before that, schools had to close if the API went above 180, or stayed above 150 for three days in a row.

Haze in Singapore

Early on Saturday, all five regions of the country saw the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) move into the unhealthy band as air quality worsened. The west had the top figure, and PSI values at 7pm spanned 108 to 152.

Showers are forecast for the weekend, the country's National Environment Agency (NEA) said, adding that from Sunday a change in wind direction might lessen how much haze from smoke arrives. Even so, fires burning in the Sumatra and Kalimantan regions of Indonesia keep threatening air quality in neighbouring Malaysia as well as in Singapore.