SHAH ALAM, Oct 8 — Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari said he will discuss immediate measures with the Selangor State Education Department (JPNS) to ensure student safety as the haze persists.
He said the discussion will be held today or tomorrow to determine follow-up actions, including the possible distribution of face masks, as smoke from forest fires in Indonesia continues to blanket Selangor.
“We will see how (it goes) over the next day or two, as the school term will end in November before the SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia) exam.
“I will meet with the State Education Department in the near future, either today or tomorrow, to look into immediate follow-up measures we can take.
“We already have guidelines in place. This means that if (the Air Pollutant Index, or API, reading) reaches 200, we will close the schools,” he said when met after officiating the Jelajah Sejahtera Madani-Skim Insurans Kesejahteraan Rakyat (SIKR) 3.0 programme here today.
At 2pm, 38 areas nationwide recorded unhealthy API readings, including all six monitoring stations in Selangor.
All schools in Johor have been ordered shut today and tomorrow due to deteriorating air quality across the southern state.
Meanwhile, Amirudin reiterated Selangor’s readiness to distribute face masks to schools should the haze worsen, adding that the state government is awaiting the latest report from the Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) to assess the weather outlook before determining further measures.
“We discussed this a few weeks ago and I am now waiting for the latest report from MetMalaysia to see how much longer the haze is expected to persist.
“We have proposed providing assistance to schools, including for the purchase of face masks and other measures,” the menteri besar said.
