All primary and secondary schools in Hilir Perak reopened today as there was a drop in the Air Pollutant Index (API) reading which was at 290 at 6pm yesterday following rain in a few areas in the state.

However in Manjung, the school that only had the evening session was opened.

Hilir Perak Education officer Zainal Abiddin Osman said the order to close the schools had been revoked and the school sessions would be as usual starting today.

“All principals were asked to notify the cancellation to all teachers, students and scholl staff and they were also urged to get the latest information on the API development and leave announcement from time to time,” he said in a statement today.

A total of 113 primary schools and 24 secondary schools with 39,591 students in Hilir Perak were immediately closed yesterday when the API reading was 333.

The closure also involved 21 secondary schools and 81 primary schools in Manjung with nearly 40,000 students.

According to the Natural Resources and Environment website, the API reading was at 115 for Seri Manjung at 10am compared with over 300 yesterday evening.

Meanwhile, the API reading at Jalan Tasek, Ipoh was 88, Jalan Pegoh, Ipoh (108), Kampung Air Putih, Taiping (67) and Tanjung Malim (100).

The rain that started in the evening until last night helped to improve air quality in Perak.

- Bernama

DOE Air Pollutant Index - check API readings nationwide.

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