Government: All students in the earthquake-hit regions will move out of the temporary classrooms by next spring.
It is learned that by the time schools start in next spring, all schools in Sichuan Province hit by the earthquake, except a few that had to be relocated, will discard the temporary plank classrooms, and the students will be studying in permanent classrooms.
Mu Hong, Deputy Director of China National Development and Reform Commission, said recently at a press conference that in view of the speed of the current overall reconstruction work, the building of schools is proceeding at a relatively fast pace. 70 percent of the students are already studying in permanent classrooms. By the end of this year, 95 percent of students will be studying in permanent classrooms.
"By the time schools opens in the spring of 2010, we will make sure that all students will be studying in permanent classrooms," he said.
According to the latest statistics released by Sichuan Education Department, a total of 3,340 schools in the 39 seriously devastated counties (cities and prefectures) under the State planning need to be restored and reconstructed. 2,455 will be partially reconstructed, repaired or reinforced. By May 4, reconstruction has already begun at 2,448 schools, accounting for over 70 percent. Among those, 2,162 are still under construction, 286 completed.
The latest statistics released by Sichuan Government showed that a total of 5,335 students lost their lives or went missing in the Earthquake last year. “We feel great pain for the death and injuries of children. We will certainly learn from the earthquake," Mu said.