First school resumes classes in quake zone

A Grade Two student (L, Front) of the Yushu School for Orphans has a lesson when resuming classes in Gyegu Town, northwest China's Qinghai Province, on April 17, 2010.[Xinhua]

YUSHU, Qinghai -- A school in the earthquake-hit zone of northwest China's Qinghai Province resumed classes Saturday in prefab housing, the first school to do so.

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More than 60 primary and middle school students and more than 10 teachers sang the national anthem when classes began at 3:30 p.m. at the Yushu School for Orphans in the hardest-hit Gyegu Town, in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yushu.

Classes stopped after a 7.1-magnitude quake struck Yushu early Wednesday, toppling most houses in Gyegu and leaving 1,339 dead and 332 missing.

"The quake destroyed our classrooms, but we are not afraid," said seventh grader Yeshe Yogjig.

"The uncles of PLA (People's Liberation Army) soldiers came here to give us food and put up tents for us. We did not suffer from hunger or cold," she said.

It took only half a day for construction workers and PLA soldiers to set up the four prefab classrooms Saturday, which can accommodate 40 students each.

"The children's studies cannot be delayed. So we gathered more than 40 people and stepped up our efforts," said Wang Sidong, a company worker who has joined the rescue operation.

The school recruited a total of 165 students, all orphans, ranging from first grader to ninth grader, and none was killed or injured in the quake. Only a school teacher and a logistics staff were left dead.

About 100 students were taken home by their relatives after the quake, and the others had spent three days with their teachers in tents.

Another primary school and a vocational school were expected to resume classes on Sunday and Monday, respectively, said Jia Yingzhong, Party chief of the Yushu prefecture.

"We are working to ensure that all schools can resume classes before the end of this month," he said.

"We will offer more relief supplies to schools to achieve the goal," he added.