Many Malay schools closed due to smoke from Indonesian forest fires... Impact on 2 million students

(Hanoi = Yonhap News) Correspondent Park Jin-hyung = Due to large-scale forest fires in Indonesia, air pollution in neighboring Malaysia recorded the worst level in the world, and more than 2 million students were unable to go to school due to school closures.

The Malaysian Ministry of Education announced on the 9th (local time) that all schools in the states of Johor, Melaka, Ngri Sembilan, and Selangor, the capital Kuala Lumpur, and the administrative capital Putrajaya in the Malay Peninsula due to severe air pollution due to forest fires were closed on this day.

As a result, more than 2 million students were unable to attend school, Bloomberg News reported.

Among these regions, the state of Johor, at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula, had already closed schools the day before, leaving approximately 610,000 students with academic difficulties for the second day.

Education Minister Fadlina Sidek announced on Facebook that schools will be closed in those areas where the country's air pollution index (API) exceeds 180, and that schools will also be closed in areas where the API exceeds 150 for three consecutive days from the 12th.

“The safety and health of our students and school communities is always our top priority,” Padlina said, adding that he had instructed all local education authorities to continue to monitor air conditions and take immediate action if the situation worsens.

If the Malay API is between 101 and 200, it is classified as ‘unhealthy’, and if it is between 201 and 300, it is classified as ‘very harmful to health.’

Kuala Lumpur's air quality index (AQI), compiled by IQ Air, a global air quality analysis company, was also the worst among major cities in the world, at 224 as of 1-2 p.m. on this day.

Next, neighboring Singapore had the second-worst score of 209.

Since last month, thick smoke from large-scale forest fires on the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra has been flowing into Malaysia and Singapore on the wind, and residents of these countries are also suffering.

The day before, at Senai International Airport in Johor, visibility fell below aviation safety standards, causing at least five flights to be delayed or diverted, causing disruption in operations.

In relation to this, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim spoke with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto the day before and discussed the issue of air pollution from forest fires, the Malaysian Prime Minister's Office said.

Prime Minister Anwar said that President Prabowo had agreed to take the necessary measures, adding, "Indonesia must take immediate and effective action to address the causes of the haze, and Malaysia is also ready to provide cooperation."

In addition, the Malaysian government is already taking measures to reduce domestic damage, such as expanding artificial rainfall, and has instructed the Minister of Foreign Affairs to promote a ministerial meeting at the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) level to coordinate regional responses and support Indonesia.

Recently, in Indonesia, the strong El Nino phenomenon overlaps with the dry season, resulting in hot and dry weather, making forest fires difficult to control.

El Niño is a phenomenon in which the sea surface temperature in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean near the equator increases abnormally, which increases the likelihood of droughts and heat waves in Asia and other regions.