Most schools resume classes

Primary students in Ya'an city, Sichuan province, return to school for the first time on Thursday since an earthquake hit the area on April 20. Their school was badly damaged during the quake and they now attend classes in prefabricated houses. Photo by Zhang Xiaoli / For China Daily

Volunteers from the Hunan Youth Development Foundation donated 2 million yuan ($325,000) and helped the school set up 34 classrooms, nine offices and two toilets.

The students received psychological counseling on Thursday morning, as some of them are still frightened, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Luo Qiong, deputy head of the Hunan provincial committee of the Communist Youth League, said the volunteers will provide financial support and psychological aid in coming days to help students restart their studies.

Le Pinghai, headmaster of Chenyang Hope School in Longmen township, said all of the school's 912 students from nine grades resumed classes on Thursday morning.

About 200 students from some neighboring primary and middle schools also went to this school to study, as their classes have not restarted due to various reasons, Le said.

Classes were quite crowded, with 68 ninth-grade students studying in a 50-square-meter classroom, the headmaster said.

"I hope the media pays more attention to the mental pressure faced by the teachers," he added. "Most of them have been working under a lot of pressure."