MIRI (Bernama): Students sitting for the Mathematics and Science papers of the Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) examination in areas affected by haze in Sarawak next week, will be provided with face masks as a precautionary measure.

Head of Sarawak State Disaster Management Committee (JPBN) secretariat, Major Ismail Mahedin from Sarawak Civil Defence Force said the face masks have been handed over to the state education department for distribution to the UPSR candidates in Kuching, Samarahan, Serian, and Sri Aman on Saturday (Sept 7) morning.

"If the Air Pollutant Index (API) readings exceed 201, schools will be closed but the UPSR examination will go on as scheduled under strict supervision by the school and exam invigilators," he said in a statement here Saturday.

A total of 40,448 students are sitting for the UPSR in the state. The Mathematics and Science papers are scheduled for Sept 10 to 12.

Eight areas in Sarawak recorded unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) readings compared to six on Friday (Sept 6), with Kuching registering very unhealthy API reading of 204, as at 9am on Saturday.

Major Ismail said the API for Miri city, SK Baram 2 and the Industrial Training Centre recorded readings of between 106 and 186.

"Other areas with unhealthy API readings are Sri Aman, Samarahan, Sarikei, Sibu and Mukah," he said in a statement here.

According to him, the 12 hotspots were detected in Sarawak while Indonesia had 1,087 hotspots detected in Kalimantan and 306 in Sumatera.

An API reading of between 0 and 50 is good while 51 to 100 is moderate, 101 to 200 is unhealthy, 201 to 300 very unhealthy, and 301 and above deemed hazardous. - Bernama