PHNOM PENH, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Ministry of Education on Monday asked all schools across the Southeast Asian country to keep children out of the sun after the temperature hit a record high last week.
"Students must be advised to play in the shade or to stay in their classrooms during break times," Minister of Education, Youth and Sports Hang Chuon Naron said in an instruction released to the educational authorities across the country.
He asked school officials to tell students to drink plenty of water, and avoid staying out in the sun for too long without sunshades.
Chuon Naron, also a deputy prime minister, said students should wear loose, lightweight, and white or light-colored clothing to protect them from skin burns.
He also advised school officials to spray waters on school building's roofs and campuses to reduce the effect of heatwave, and asked students to avoid exercising or playing sports in the sun.
Chan Yutha, a spokesperson and secretary of state for the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, said last week that Cambodia had recorded the highest-ever temperature in this hot season in about 170 years.
According to the ministry's weather forecast, the temperature in some provinces in northern, northeastern, northwestern, central and southern parts of the country reached 43 degrees Celsius on Monday, and this "alarming" level will last till Tuesday and Wednesday.
Yutha said temperatures will start to drop in early May, as rainfall is predicted. ■
