According to the ministry’s guidelines issued last Friday, schools must suspend outdoor activities for students and teachers if the temperature is between 35 degrees Celsius and 37 degrees Celsius for three consecutive days.
If the temperature reaches over 37 degrees Celsius for three consecutive days and a heatwave is declared by the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia), schools will be ordered to shut.
The education ministry has since allowed students and teachers to wear athletic clothing to school amid the prolonged hot weather in some Malaysian states.
Education deputy director-general of school operations, Dr Norisah Suhaili, in a letter dated May 2 said that the decision was made to ensure the welfare, health and safety of students, teachers as well as school administrators.
Dr Norisah said the current hot weather could trigger a heatwave, which could lead to health complications such as hyperthermia, heatstroke and dehydration.
Just last week, Malaysia’s health director-general Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan said that a total of five cases of heat-related illness had been detected in the country.
According to a report by The Star last month, MetMalaysia had forecast the temperature to hover at about 35 degrees Celsius in most parts of the country daily until early May.