More time required to arrange childcare, say stakeholders
KUALA LUMPUR: Early communication and clearer guidelines are needed for haze-related school closures to give parents more time to prepare, say stakeholders.
Parent Action Group for Education president Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said the authorities needed to consider the disruption to families and provide timely information and contingency arrangements to help working parents cope.
“The larger issue is not whether shopping malls are an appropriate substitute for schools.
“It is why families are left to improvise when a public health emergency disrupts normal childcare arrangements,” she said.
Noor Azimah was asked to comment on the Education Ministry’s announcement late Thursday night ordering schools to close due to worsening haze conditions, leaving some working parents scrambling to make childcare arrangements.
While supporting the closures to protect pupils from unhealthy air, SJK(C) Ting Hwa school board chairman Datuk Shaun Lee Chong Leng said the authorities should make such announcements earlier in the day and provide clearer guidelines.
“Parents are caught off guard when announcements come so late at night,” he said.
He also suggested tax incentives for companies that accommodate employees who have to care for their children during haze-related school closures.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Medical Association president Dr Sivanaesan Letchumanan cautioned parents that while shopping malls may provide shelter from the haze, air-conditioning alone does not guarantee clean air for children.
He said indoor air quality depended on a building’s ventilation system, the efficiency of its filters and how well they were maintained.
“Fine particles such as PM2.5 could still enter through ventilation systems, entrances and other openings.
“Parents should limit children’s time outdoors during unhealthy air conditions, avoid strenuous activities and monitor local Air Pollutant Index (API) readings.”
Dr Sivanaesan said a properly fitted N95 mask could offer older children additional protection against particles, although it might not fit younger children adequately.
“Children with asthma or other respiratory conditions need closer monitoring for symptoms such as persistent coughing, wheezing or breathing difficulties.
“Protecting children from haze should be a shared responsibility. We cannot expect parents to manage the situation entirely on their own, particularly when they are required to report for work,” he said.
Senior consultant paediatrician Datuk Dr Amar-Singh HSS said parents needed to be cautious about where they took their children during school closures.
“But families also need practical options when parents are unable to stay home,” he said.
He added that some parents might take their children outside the home because ordinary home air-conditioners were not designed to effectively filter out fine particles or gaseous pollutants.
“A properly sized air purifier fitted with a high-efficiency particulate air filter could help reduce indoor PM2.5 levels, while activated carbon filters could help remove some gases,” he said.
They were commenting on some parents taking their children to shopping malls during the school closures, which drew mixed reactions online.
