Indonesian Schools Switch to Remote Learning Due to Severe Forest Fire Haze

Schools in the capital of Indonesia’s South Sumatra province switched to remote learning on Wednesday as worsening haze from forest and peatland fires pushed air pollution to unhealthy levels, adding to disruptions that had already affected more than 1.4 million students across the country, officials said.

Indonesia has been plagued by forest and land fires for decades but an intensifying El Nino pattern and a prolonged dry season made the impact of the fires especially dire this year. Toxic haze and smoke have spread far beyond Indonesia’s borders in Southeast Asia, creating a regional health crisis.

The smoke has drifted as far as the Philippines, more than 800km (500 miles) away, and breached Malaysia’s emergency-level threshold, forcing authorities to declare an emergency last week in a town in Sarawak state on Borneo Island.

In Palembang, the capital city of South Sumatra province, schools from kindergarten to junior high were ordered to start conducting classes online on Wednesday under an emergency measure.

Mayor Ratu Dewa said the thickening smoke posed health risks to children, including acute respiratory infections.

“Students’ health and safety remained the government’s priority,” Dewa said. Teachers were also asked to avoid excessive assignments during the period of remote learning, he added.

The policy, affecting more than 250,000 students at 1,030 schools in Palembang, would be reviewed regularly, and in-person classes will resume once conditions improve, he said.