PETALING JAYA: The Education Ministry has instructed state education directors to establish a haze monitoring task force involving state education departments and district education offices, following the ongoing haze in parts of the country.
The task force will monitor the haze Air Pollutant Index (API) readings at designated times every day, the ministry said.
Based on the information and data collected by the task force, the state education director will decide on the operational status of schools in their respective states - whether schools will operate as usual or via home-based teaching and learning.
The director will issue announcements on Saturdays for schools in Group A and on Sundays for schools in Group B about the operational status before 2:45pm that day.
"These announcements will also facilitate arrangements for students who need to return to their boarding schools or travel home," the ministry added.
On other days, the state education directors will announce the operational status of schools before 5:45pm, based on haze API readings released by the Department of Environment.
"The cooperation and attention of all parties, particularly parents and guardians, are sought to ensure they remain informed of announcements issued by state education directors through official communication channels of the state education departments, district education offices and their respective schools," the ministry said.
On Friday (Oct 9), schools in Melaka, Negri Sembilan, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya were ordered to close due to the worsening haze.
