A thick blanket of haze shrouds Putrajaya September 17, 2019. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 — Twelve private schools with 7,432 students in two states and two federal territories have temporarily closed due to the worsening haze.

The Education Ministry announced that its private education unit was notified as of 7am today about the number of private school closures.

In Selangor, Straits International School (203 students), Tenby International School Setia Ecohill (465 students), Tanarata International School (418 students), Cempaka International School Cheras (277 students) and King Henry VIII College (480 students) in Cyberjaya have all stopped classes.

The Air Pollutant Index in Selangor ranged from 95 in Kuala Selangor to as high as 197 in Klang today.

In Kuala Lumpur, four schools that are temporarily closed include Sri Utama School (346 students), Garden International School (1,982 students), Eaton International School (59 students) and Cempaka International School (1,005).

API readings in the nation’s capital ranged from 111 in Batu Muda to as high as 166 in Cheras.

At Malaysia's administrative capital Putrajaya, the International Modern Arabic School (1,500 students) and Nexus International School (625 students) also closed due to high prevailing air pollution, which surpassed very unhealthy levels yesterday before settling at an API of 186 at noon today.

In Negri Sembilan, UCSI International School (72 students) opted to close as the API hovered between 181 and 213 in Port Dickson.