Schools in Indonesia's South Sumatra province have moved to remote learning due to a severe haze caused by forest fires. Officials in Palembang, the capital of South Sumatra, announced that schools from kindergarten to junior high would conduct classes online as an emergency measure. The thick smoke poses serious health risks to children, including acute respiratory infections, according to Mayor Ratu Dewa. Teachers have also been advised to limit the amount of homework assigned during this period. This policy affects over 250,000 students at 1,030 schools in Palembang and will be reviewed regularly. In-person classes will resume once air quality improves. Across the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, about 12,800 schools have remained closed due to poor air quality. According to government data, dangerous levels of pollution have persisted in these regions. Save the Children, an international non-governmental organization, reported that haze from wildfires, worsened by El Niño-related dry conditions, has forced more than 1.4 million students in Indonesia to switch to online learning. The fires have been most intense in Borneo, with thousands of hectares burning in Indonesia’s Kalimantan and Sumatra regions. According to satellite data from Indonesia's Environment Ministry, Central Kalimantan remains the country's main hotspot for wildfires, with 2,459 hot spots detected. South Sumatra follows closely with 1,445 hot spots, while West Kalimantan ranks third with 928 hot spots. To combat the blazes, Indonesian authorities have increased firefighting efforts, involving aircraft from countries such as Japan, the United States, Russia, Australia, Canada, and Ukraine. Between January and July, Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry recorded over 202,000 hectares of burned land—almost three times the size of Singapore. Indonesia has long struggled with forest and land fires, but this year's situation has been particularly severe due to an intensifying El Niño pattern and a prolonged dry season. The toxic haze and smoke have not only affected Indonesia but have also spread across Southeast Asia, creating a regional health crisis. The smoke has reached as far as the Philippines, more than 800 kilometers away, and has exceeded Malaysia’s emergency-level threshold. This prompted authorities in Sarawak, a state on Borneo Island, to declare an emergency last week.