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SHAH ALAM – Engage (Rakyat in Action) and Stability and Accountability for Malaysia Project (Projek Sama) have urged the government not to leave families and small businesses to bear the cost of haze-related school closures alone.
In a joint statement, the groups called for urgent support for affected workers, parents and enterprises, particularly in Johor, where all schools have been ordered to close since Oct 8.
They argued that recurring crises such as the annual haze demand evidence-based, accountable and participatory policymaking rather than performative decisions that can cause unintended harm.
While protecting children’s health is a noble aim, they said, school closures impose heavy financial burdens on parents who lose income, employers who lose staff and school-dependent businesses such as canteens and bus operators.
To illustrate the impact, the groups provided a breakdown based on government primary schools in Johor. Excluding secondary, private and international schools, the state has 336,045 pupils enrolled in government primary schools.
Assuming these pupils come from 168,022 households with two children each and that five per cent of these households have a salaried parent who must take leave to care for them, the groups estimated a productivity loss of RM1,026,449 a day.
This is based on a median monthly wage of RM2,688, or about RM122 a day over a 22-day working month.
They said the actual burden was likely to be substantially higher once secondary disruptions were factored in.
With closures extending to Oct 23 and no certainty over when the haze will clear, the groups stressed that decisions must be guided by transparent science and published Air Pollutant Index (API) thresholds rather than ad hoc announcements.
They added that blanket statewide closures should be reserved for genuine emergencies, with district authorities and individual schools given the flexibility to decide based on local conditions. They also said these science-based measures must be matched with humane assistance.
The statement outlined five recommendations:
First, the government should provide free N95 masks to schools, vulnerable groups and outdoor workers.
Second, lower-income households should receive vouchers for High-Efficiency Particulate Air (Hepa) air purifiers, and public facilities should be equipped as clean-air spaces.
Third, daily-wage earners and low-income parents who lose income while caring for children should qualify for temporary financial support.
Fourth, small school-dependent businesses should receive emergency assistance during prolonged closures.
Fifth, employers should be encouraged to offer flexible work arrangements and emergency childcare leave without penalising staff.
The groups said the political class had failed to address the root causes of the annual haze, noting that Malaysia still lacks a clean air law to hold domestic companies accountable for regional forest fires. They warned that fragmented policies risk causing more harm than good.
