Haze: All schools in KL, Putrajaya and Penang to reopen on Monday (Sept 23)

PUTRAJAYA: All 296 schools in Kuala Lumpur, which closed last Thursday (Sept 19) and Friday (Sept 20) due to the haze situation, will resume classes on Monday (Sept 23).

Federal Territory Education Department director Maznah Abu Bakar said this in a statement, adding that the Air Pollutant Index (API) levels at the Batu Muda and Cheras stations at 5pm Sunday (Sept 22) showed readings of below 200 and a declining trend.

Meanwhile, all 25 schools closed last Thursday and Friday in Putrajaya due to the haze will also resume classes on Monday, said Putrajaya Education Department director Farizah Ahmad in a statement.

She noted that the API level at the Putrajaya station showed a reading of below 200 at 5pm Sunday.

In George Town, all 399 schools in Penang, which were also closed during the same period, due to the high API levels will also resume classes on Monday.

According to state Education Department deputy director Abdul Rashid Abdul Samad, the affected schools will be reopen as the air quality has improved.

"The API reading has shown an improvement with API below 200," he said.

Updates will be provided from time to time if there are changes. All schools have been reminded to follow the standard operating procedures while also ensuring staff and students' health are prioritised at all times.

The schools were ordered to close for two days after the API readings breached 200.

The API reading between 0 and 50 is categorised as good, 51 to 100 (moderate), 101 to 200 (unhealthy), 201 to 300 (very unhealthy) and 300 or above (hazardous).