All schools in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Negeri Sembilan and Malacca are to remain closed until further notice, due to the worsening haze in the country.

This was announced by Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid today.

“This current directive will affect 2,045 schools and 1.523 pupils,” he said.

“The government is also monitoring the situation in Perak, Pahang and Terengganu where the air quality is also at an unhealthy level.

“The government will keep all the State Education Departments informed if more schools need to be closed or reopened,” Mahdzir said at a news conference here.

Special media conference by Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid in Kuala Lumpur today

Yesterday evening, the minister had instructed all schools in KL, Selangor, Putrajaya, Negeri Sembilan and Malacca to be closed today following the unhealthy levels of haze in these areas.

The announcement was verified by Deputy Education Minister P. Kamalanathan on his Twitter last night.

Meanwhile, as at 10am today, all areas in the Klang Valley are still recording unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) readings, with Batu Muda heading the list at 181, Banting (174), Port Klang and Putrajaya (166), Shah Alam (152), Cheras (150), Petaling Jaya (147) and Kuala Selangor (111).

The readings are according to the Department of Environment website at http://apims.doe.gov.my/apims/hourly2.php.