Johor keeps schools shut a third week over haze, leaving private schools to decide

Johor will keep its schools and other educational institutions closed from Monday 19 October to Friday 23 October, the third week that haze from fires in Indonesia has shut classrooms across the southern Malaysian state.

Dr Muhammad Naqib Md Ghazali, chairman of the Johor state education and information committee, announced the extension on Saturday after a haze coordination meeting found that air quality had not improved significantly, The Star reported. "We took into account wind movement towards the north, weather forecasts for the next three to four days," he said.

Private institutions and childcare centres in the state may choose whether to stay open. Those that do must keep activities in enclosed spaces and require face masks, the state said. Education Ministry schools will continue teaching at home, and pupils due to sit exams or assessments may be given limited exemptions, coordinated by the state education department.

Johor has recorded 30,648 cases of asthma and upper respiratory tract infections so far this month, a rise of 20.7 per cent on the previous week, The Star reported. At 6pm on Sunday the state had the country's highest Air Pollutant Index readings, led by Pasir Gudang at 181 and Kota Tinggi at 178. Readings from 101 to 200 count as unhealthy.

The state first closed its schools earlier this month, then extended the closure from 12 to 16 October.

Further north, Education Ministry schools in Kuala Lumpur and in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Pahang and Penang reopened on Monday. Education departments in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor encouraged pupils to wear face masks, and parents who keep their children at home must tell the school. Readings in the capital were still in the unhealthy range on Sunday evening, at 153 in both Cheras and Batu Muda. The Kuala Lumpur Education Department said last week that all outdoor activities at its schools remained suspended.

Those instructions apply to schools under the Education Ministry; the reports did not set out rules for private and international schools in the capital. Prospectus profiles 17 international schools in and around Kuala Lumpur, among them Garden International School and The International School of Kuala Lumpur.

The ministry ordered the first closures in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and several states on 9 October, following the King's call to shut schools in haze-hit areas where readings stayed between 150 and 180 for long periods. It said future closure decisions would be communicated to parents earlier.

In Singapore, schools have stayed open. Education Minister Desmond Lee said on 10 October that the ministry would consider closing schools and postponing national exams if the next day's 24-hour PSI forecast went above 300, with any decision announced around 8pm the evening before, Mothership reported.