Zhouqu Students Return to School

Primary and middle school students in mudslide-battered Zhouqu County in northwest China have gone back to class today, three weeks after the disaster that killed more than 1,400 people and left hundreds still missing.

Local officials say almost every registered student attended classes on the first day of the new semester.

Su Yi has more.
3,600 primary students in Zhouqu attended the flag-raising ceremony for their new semester and paid a silent tribute to victims of the deadly mudslides.

The children stood in the playground of No.1 middle school, which was still being used to temporarily house 1,700 survivors of the mudslides. The homeless had to be relocated to a western area of the county just one hour before the opening ceremony.

The start of classes at four schools containing 6-thousand students in the remote county in Gansu province was delayed by 10 days after floodwater and mud engulfed buildings and killed nearly 1,450 people.

CRI Gansu correspondent Zhang Xiaocheng joined a Chinese-language class.

"There was a safety guide before the first class. Students were told something about traffic safety and how to protect themselves outside the campus. They were also told about psychological counseling courses that have been added to the curriculum."

All students were given new schoolbags stuffed with useful items, including pens, pencil-boxes, skipping ropes, and essentials such as tooth brushes, tooth paste and towels.

Dan Zhita, vice director of the provincial educational bureau, says more help is on the way..

"For those who lost both parents in the disaster, we will pay for all their fees."

3-thousand senior high school students from Zhouqu county will be relocated to nearby Dingxi City and the provincial capital of Lanzhou to start their new semester there on September 1st.

For CRI, I'm Su Yi.