131 schools closed tomorrow

PETALING JAYA: The Selangor education department has directed 131 schools in Klang to close tomorrow as the Air Pollutant Index (API) for the district breached 200 today.
Two schools – SMK Tanjung Sepat in Kuala Langat and SJK (C) Pui Ying in Klang – were closed today, and many more in other parts of the peninsula will also be closed today if the air quality worsens.
The areas worst hit by haze today were in Klang and Port Klang with an API of 233.
Other areas recording unhealthy levels are Banting (189), Kuala Selangor (179), Petaling Jaya (159), Shah Alam (150) in Selangor; Batu Muda (163) and Cheras (137) in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya (168); Malacca town (109), Bukit Rambai (128) in Malacca; Port Dickson (137) and Seremban (141) in Negri Sembilan and Tanjung Malim (120) in Perak.
Education Director-General Tan Sri Abdul Gafar Mahmud said he had already issued a directive to all state education departments to shut schools in their respective states if the API reading breaches 200.
There are 924 schools in Selangor with 132 of them in Klang.
"School heads are aware of the ministry's directive," Selangor education director Datuk Mahmud Karim said today, adding that all outdoor activities are to be stopped once the API exceeds 100.
The Selangor state education, higher education and human capital development executive councillor Dr Halimah Ali said the state exco is concerned with the haze situation taking a bad turn, especially with some 933,699 students being affected in the state.
The number could reach a million students if taken into account private schools and kindergartens.
She hoped the Education Department would take into account the unhealthy API reading and do the needful as it concern's children's health.
Meanwhile, Health Director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said he had already instructed states to response to the advise of school closure besides distributing face masks to students.
He advised people, especially children, the elderly and the sick, to stay indoors and drink plenty of water.