KUCHING: The Sarawak Education Department will announce the operating arrangements for schools by 2pm on Saturday (Sept 5) due to the ongoing haze.
The department said the safety and wellbeing of students and education personnel remain a priority for the Education Ministry amid deteriorating air quality.
"As such, the method of school operations for Monday (Sept 7) will be announced on Saturday before 2pm.
"Parents and guardians, pupils and school personnel have been advised to follow official updates and directives issued by the ministry and the department," it said in a Facebook post on Friday (Sept 4).
Families are also urged to monitor their health and that of their children, particularly those with respiratory problems.
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The department also advised reducing outdoor activities and exposure to the haze if air quality worsens.
It also cautioned against spreading or believing unverified information to prevent confusion and anxiety.
The current school holidays run from Aug 28 to Saturday for Group A states, while for Group B states the break is from Aug 29 to Sunday (Sept 6), with the new school term scheduled to begin on Sunday and Monday, respectively.
According to the Air Pollutant Index Management System (Apims), Serian recorded a hazardous Air Pollutant Index (API) reading of 518 and Kuching recorded 309 as of noon on Friday, while Samarahan (281) and Sri Aman (237) were in the very unhealthy category.
API readings of between zero and 50 indicate good air quality, 51 to 100 moderate, 101 to 200 unhealthy, 201 to 300 very unhealthy, while readings above 300 are categorised as hazardous.
API data is released hourly based on readings from 68 air quality monitoring stations nationwide.
