Thursday June 20, 2013

Haze: All Batu Pahat schools to close for two days

By CHRISTINA TAN

 
All schools in Batu Pahat have been instructed to close for two days, as air quality in the district deteriorated. The district education department issued the notice to all schools following an air pollutant index (API) reading of more than 300, which is considered hazardous.

BATU PAHAT: All schools in Batu Pahat have been instructed to close for two days, as air quality in the district deteriorated.

The district education department issued the notice to all schools following an air pollutant index (API) reading of more than 300, which is considered hazardous.

At SJK (C) Ai Chun (2), schoolteachers were seen standing outside the schools, informing parents of afternoon school session students of the closure.

Headmaster Ho Weng Tack said the school received instruction from the district office at about noon to close the school on Thursday and Friday for the students' health and safety.

"The school is a bit chaotic today as we are busy informing the parents one-by-one, sending out text messages, while handling students from the morning session," he said when met at the school in Jalan Mohd Khalid.

Ho said the schools would wait for further notice from the education department on replacement classes.

Batu Pahat Chinese Primary School Heads Council chairman Heng Hock Teng said the 38 Chinese primary schools in the district were told earlier this week to stop all extra-curricular and outdoor activities.

"We also informed all schools to work with their respective Parent-Teacher Associations to prepare masks for students," he said, adding that most schools had done so.

Headmistress of SJK (C) Hwa Jin Tan Seow Tin said the school had advised all parents to prepare additional masks for their children as schools were short on masks.

She said the school gave away masks to students on Tuesday.

"Parents got into a panic on Wednesday as the weather became worse, with almost half the students in school absent or returned home halfway through the school session," she said.

She added that parents were calmer Thursday and brought their children to school.

The Star online

Thursday 20 June 2013.