Badung schools may adjust lessons as Bali fuel queues disrupt journeys

In brief: Schools in Bali's Badung regency can make temporary adjustments from 14 October 2026 if fuel-related transport problems affect pupils or staff. The education office has not ordered a blanket closure or a switch to online learning.

Families in Badung may receive different instructions from different schools this week. A circular issued by the regency's Education, Youth and Sports Agency (Disdikpora) on 13 October gives school leaders room to respond to disruption caused by long queues and limited fuel availability at filling stations. It covers kindergartens (TK), primary schools (SD) and junior secondary schools (SMP).

The guidance was issued after petrol station queues became a significant problem for daily travel in parts of Bali. On 13 October, Pertamina's chief executive acknowledged the disruption and identified a technical problem during a fuel shipment's unloading as one cause. The announcement did not establish a firm date for normal conditions at individual stations.

School leaders can respond to local conditions

Badung education chief I Gusti Made Dwipayana told detikBali on 13 October that in-person classes should continue wherever schools can operate them. Principals have discretion to adapt teaching arrangements where the journey to school is creating genuine difficulties. The aim is to keep education available while accounting for the circumstances of teachers, other employees and students.

Schools have also been asked to record attendance problems linked to travel disruption and document their responses. Adjustments are intended to be proportionate and temporary, with the agency reviewing the situation as fuel supplies and distribution change. The circular does not prescribe a single alternative timetable for every school in the regency.

Parents should expect school-specific updates

A child whose school is operating normally may still face a difficult journey because of congestion near filling stations. Another school may need to revise its arrangements if a substantial number of pupils or teachers cannot get there. Neither outcome can be assumed from the district announcement alone.

Parents should therefore use their school's direct communications for any changes to attendance, class hours or teaching arrangements. Reports of fuel shortages elsewhere on the island do not, by themselves, change a school's timetable in Badung. Equally, this instruction applies to Badung; it is not evidence of a Bali-wide policy covering schools in Denpasar or other regencies.

• ANTARA — “Pertamina minta maaf ke warga Bali klarifikasi soal BBM langka”, 13 October 2026.