Pontianak Students Shift to Online Learning as Forest Fire Haze Worsens, Respiratory Cases Rise

The Pontianak city government in West Kalimantan has temporarily suspended in-person learning for kindergarten, early childhood education, primary, and junior high school students due to air quality affected by haze from forest and land fires.

"Haze has blanketed Pontianak City. Based on monitoring from the city’s air quality measuring device in Southeast Pontianak District, the air condition last night from 9 PM to 11 PM Western Indonesian Time was in the unhealthy category," said Pontianak Mayor Edi Kamtono on Monday (10/7). He explained that the concentration of particulate matter during that period was above 200 micrograms per cubic metre, before dropping to a moderate category around 8 AM. This condition occurs because smoke particles tend to be heavier and stay near the surface during the night and early morning. "This causes the air quality at night until dawn to be very poor, even declared unhealthy," he stated.

Following up on this condition, the Pontianak City Education and Culture Office issued a circular instructing students under the city government’s authority not to attend in-person classes. Teaching and learning activities are temporarily being conducted online. The city government has not set a definite deadline for the suspension of in-person learning. The policy will be adjusted according to developments in air quality. "We are implementing this school closure while waiting for air quality conditions to improve. If it returns to a moderate category, we will normalise learning activities," Edi said.

However, the city government noted that there are no significant signs of the haze decreasing yet. Therefore, residents, especially children who are sensitive to smoke exposure, are urged to reduce outdoor activities and wear masks if they must go outside. The public is also advised to immediately visit health facilities if they experience symptoms of acute respiratory infection (ISPA). The Pontianak City Government has also asked the Health Office, hospitals, and community health centres to prepare oxygen supplies to anticipate a rise in ISPA cases.

"For now, based on reports from the Health Office, there has been an increase of about five percent. We will later find out more about the extent of this condition’s impact on ISPA sufferers," he said. The mayor had previously declared a forest and land fire emergency status to strengthen cross-sectoral handling and coordination. Pontianak City is coordinating with the West Kalimantan Provincial Government, the central government, the Regional Leadership Coordination Forum, and the private sector. "This is done to strengthen joint handling coordination, both in fire prevention and in addressing public health impacts," Edi said.