JOHOR BARU: Only students sitting for examinations will be required to attend school on Monday (Oct 26) and Tuesday (Oct 27), says Johor executive councillor Dr Muhammad Naqib Md Ghazali.
The Johor education and information committee chairman said that schools in the state would reopen in two phases following weeks of closures due to the haze.
"For the first phase on Oct 26 and 27, attendance will be limited to students who are required to sit for examinations according to their respective schedules.
"This period will also allow school administrators and teachers to make the necessary preparations for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination and the Ujian Akhir Sesi Akademik (UASA)," he said in a statement on Sunday (Oct 25).
Dr Muhammad Naqib said the second phase would begin on Wednesday (Oct 28), when all schools across Johor are scheduled to resume normal operations, subject to the prevailing air quality conditions.
He added that the Johor Education Department would coordinate the implementation of health and safety standard operating procedures, including the wearing of face masks and monitoring of school activities based on current Air Pollutant Index (API) readings and prevailing guidelines.
"The state government and relevant agencies will continue to monitor the haze situation to ensure that any further action can be taken based on assessments of the current conditions," he said.
The statement came just one day after Dr Muhammad Naqib announced that all educational institutions in Johor would resume operations on Monday.
In the statement on Saturday (Oct 24), he said the decision was made following a meeting of the Johor State Disaster Management Committee, which took into account the downward trend in API readings over the past five days, as well as favourable weather conditions.
The school closures were first imposed in Johor on Oct 7 and 8 before being extended to Oct 12 to 16, and later Oct 19 to 23.
The closures were made in deference to the decree of Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, taking into account the safety, health and well-being of Johoreans.
