SMK Tun Dr Ismail secondary school in Johor
SMK Tun Dr Ismail in Johor, photographed Nov. 17, 2021. File photo; it does not show the October 2026 return to classes. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SMK_Tun_Dr_Ismail.jpg License: http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en Wiki Farazi / Wikimedia Commons / CC0

Johor will reopen schools in stages beginning Monday, Oct. 26, with attendance on Monday and Tuesday limited to students scheduled to sit examinations, according to an updated state announcement that changes an earlier plan for a general return to classrooms.

State education and information committee chairman Dr. Muhammad Naqib Md Ghazali said all schools were scheduled to resume full operations on Wednesday, subject to prevailing air quality. Bernama reported the revised arrangement on Oct. 25, a day after the state announced that educational institutions would reopen on Monday.

The distinction matters for families arranging transport and childcare: the first phase applies to students with examinations under their established schedules. It does not amount to an instruction for every student to return on Monday. The updated announcement also provides administrators and teachers time to prepare for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examinations and end-of-session assessments.

The Johor Education Department will coordinate health and safety procedures, including mask use and monitoring of school activities against current Air Pollutant Index readings. State agencies will continue assessing the haze situation. The Oct. 25 report recorded unhealthy readings in Pasir Gudang and Batu Pahat at 4 p.m.; those observations describe that afternoon and are not forecasts for Monday.

The preceding Oct. 24 announcement, published by Media Digital Johor, had linked reopening to five days of declining pollution readings and assessments by the state disaster management committee. Expected changes in wind direction, higher humidity and rainfall were among the conditions considered. The announcement also covered educational institutions supervised by the Johor Islamic Religious Department, with operational monitoring through the relevant authorities.

The change between the two announcements illustrates why a reopening date needs to be read together with its scope and conditions. An improving statewide trend cannot establish the air quality at every school, and an examination timetable does not by itself remove the health requirements governing classroom operations.

Malaysia's Education Ministry outlined its wider approach on Oct. 14. Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said outdoor classroom activities would be postponed when the index exceeded 100 and schools would close when it exceeded 200, in line with the National Haze Action Plan. She also said parents concerned about their children's health could keep them home during the haze by informing the school.

That framework gives families two separate matters to check: whether their child falls within the group called back for an examination and whether the school has issued any further operational instruction. A general news headline about reopening is less specific than the notice governing a particular assessment and school.

Health Ministry guidance describes readings from 101 to 200 as unhealthy and 201 to 300 as very unhealthy. Children, older people and people with respiratory or heart conditions are among the groups vulnerable to prolonged exposure. The ministry lists throat irritation, coughing and breathing difficulty among possible effects of haze.

For Monday's return, the operative development is therefore the phased arrangement announced Oct. 25. Exam candidates return first, the planned broader restart follows on Wednesday, and both remain tied to official monitoring. Families should use current notices from their schools and education authorities when confirming attendance rather than assuming the earlier all-student reopening announcement remains the complete instruction.