Haze: All schools in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Penang closed on Thursday-Friday (Sept 19-20)

PETALING JAYA: All schools in Selangor, Penang, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur will be closed on Thursday (Sept 19) and Friday (Sept 20).

The Selangor Disaster Management and Relief Committee said extended exposure to the haze will increase health risks to high risk groups, particularly children, senior citizens, heart and lung patients, and pregnant women.

Based on a statement by the Malaysian Meteorology Department on Tuesday (Sept 17), the haze is expected to continue until next week and the monitoring of air quality at all stations showed unhealthy and very unhealthy readings.

“The Selangor state education department and district education offices must inform schools and parents on the closure immediately.

“The temporary closure of the schools is to ensure the health of students is not affected, ” said the Selangor Disaster Management and Relief Committee in a statement Wednesday (Sept 18).

The Education Ministry, in a separate statement, said that 939 schools involving 911,874 students in Selangor, will be closed for two days.

These are 52 schools in Sepang, 129 in Hulu Langat, 72 in Kuala Langat, 104 in Gombak, 139 in Petaling Perdana, 86 in Petaling Utama, 68 in Hulu Selangor, 92 in Kuala Selangor, 64 in Sabak Bernam and 133 in Klang.

The ministry said these include all private kindergartens registered in Selangor.

The classes don’t have to be replaced as it’s considered “cuti bencana” or disaster leave.