Engage (Rakyat in Action) and Project Stability and Accountability for Malaysia (Projek Sama) call for urgent support for families, workers and small businesses affected by haze-related school closures, in particular those in Johor, where all schools have been ordered to close since 8 October.
It is exactly in crises – including this annual haze crisis perpetuated by Asean’s failure – that we must demand evidence-based, accountable and participative policymaking, guided by scientific reasoning and checked by democratic oversight.
While top-down tough policy measures may give us the illusion that the political elites care and we are protected, the unintended outcome could be harmful.
We badly need rigorous cost-benefit analyses of different policy measures – not tough, fast and performative decisions driven by the sense of urgency in any powerful institution. As the saying goes, the road to hell is (often) paved with good intentions.
While protecting children’s health is a noble intention, school closure imposes costs on parents, employers and school-dependent businesses.
Parents may lose income, take unpaid leave or scramble for childcare.
Employers may lose staff.
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And canteen operators, bus operators and food suppliers may lose business.
For households already under financial pressure, even one lost day matters.
Using publicly available data, a conservative estimate projects a cost of around RM1m in Johor for every statewide school-closure day, on disrupted parental work time alone. This excludes lost income for canteen operators and suppliers, other losses in general business disruption, learning losses and health costs for under-privileged children who suffer worse pollution at home than in schools.
Leaving aside students in secondary, private and international schools, Johor has 336,045 students in government primary schools. Assuming they come from 168,022 households with two children, and 5% of these households have a salaried parent who has to take leave to tend to their children, and these parents earn – on average – the median monthly wage of RM2,688 (RM122 per working day for 22 working days per month), the productivity loss amounts to RM 1,026,449. The actual burden is therefore likely to be substantially higher.
Since 8 October, the Johor government has ordered schools and educational institutions closed for 12 school days until 23 October, with no certainty about further disruption. Regional authorities warn that haze may persist, with an improvement expected only in late October or early November.
School closures must be guided by transparent science, not ad hoc or performative announcements. Authorities should publish Air Pollutant Index thresholds, weather forecasts and health criteria in advance, and communicate decisions by a fixed time wherever possible.
Because haze conditions can differ markedly between districts, blanket statewide closures should be reserved for genuine statewide emergencies.
Within a clear national framework, district education authorities and individual schools should decide whether to close, conduct online learning or continue safely, based on published guidelines, indoor air conditions and the needs of vulnerable students.
But science-based decisions must be matched by humane assistance, which may be conveniently overlooked or distracted by tough, fast, performative measures:
First, the government should provide free N95 masks to schools, low-income families, older people, people with heart or respiratory conditions, pregnant women and outdoor workers when unhealthy air persists.
Second, low-income households with young children, older family members or people with chronic illness should receive vouchers or subsidies for HEPA air purifiers. Community halls, libraries and other suitable public facilities should be prepared as clean air spaces during severe haze with the installation of air purifiers.
Third, daily-wage earners, self-employed workers and low-income parents who lose income while caring for children during closures should qualify for a simple, temporary haze-support payment, delivered quickly through existing welfare databases.
Fourth, small school-dependent businesses – including canteen operators, school bus operators and food suppliers – should receive limited emergency assistance when prolonged closures deprive them of ordinary income.
Finally, employers should be encouraged to provide flexible work arrangements and emergency childcare leave without penalising staff who have no alternative.
The annual haze underscores the utter failure of the political class in both Asean and Malaysia. Malaysia has no clean air law – and no scheduled plan – that allows civil action against at least Malaysian companies involved in Indonesian fires, some of which have been named by groups like Greenpeace.
And in the absence of well-thought and integrated policies to help patients, families and small businesses to cope with this largely human-made crisis, we now have a performative measure that may cause more harm than good even if it is driven by a noble intention. – Engage / Projek Sama, 19 October
The views expressed in Aliran's media statements and the NGO statements we have endorsed reflect Aliran's official stand. Views and opinions expressed in other pieces published here do not necessarily reflect Aliran's official position.
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
