舟曲迎来灾后秋季开学

Primary and middle school students in Zhouqu County in northwestern province of Gansu Province are back in school. They began a new semester on Wednesday after a 10-day delay caused by the devastating mudslide.

In the morning a simple opening ceremony was held by the local education department.

CCTV reporter Wang Chunxiao said, "On August 25th, over 100-thousand students went back to school, some were transferred to nearby schools, others remained in local schools."

More than three-thousand Students of Number One High School, the only senior high, will attend their classes in Lanzhou and Dingxi cities, due to the heavy damage suffered by the local school.

Police from the Gansu Transport Police Corps gave pupils lessons on traffic safety. In addition, mental counseling and moral education were also undertaken.

Liu Dongjiang, Headmaster, No.1 Primary School, said, "Some students are suffering after losing their families. If mental counseling and behavior modification is not provided to the pupils in time, some of them may have difficulties studying and moving on."

The devastating mudslides on August 8th claimed more than 14-hundred lives. Three-hundred-and-18 people are still missing. Some students and teachers were killed in the mudslide. The reopening of school is an important event for students in Zhouqu as they consider it necessary to continue their education.