Classes to fully resume in quake-hit region

Students in the 12th grade from Tianquan Middle School arrive at Chengdu Normal University, April 24, 2013. [Photo by Wang Ruobing/Asianewsphoto]

CHENGDU - Classes are expected to fully resume on Saturday in the quake-hit region of southwest China's Sichuan Province, according to the provincial educational department.

Students in the 12th grade are among the first to resume classes as this year's college entrance exam, which is set for June 7 and 8, is approaching, according to the department.

Those 12th-grade students from the hardest-hit counties of Lushan, Tianquan and Baoxing will be relocated to three universities in the provincial capital of Chengdu and continue their studies there.

A total of 422 12th-grade students and teachers from Lushan Middle School were moved on Tuesday afternoon from their high school to the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics.

Some 953 students in the 12th grade from Tianquan Middle School arrived at Chengdu Normal University on Wednesday, and 186 peers from Baoxing Middle School are expected to arrive at Chengdu Medical College on Thursday.

A total of 355 schools were damaged in the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Lushan County, Ya'an City on Saturday, a Ya'an municipal educational bureau official said on Wednesday.

The Ya'an municipal government is evaluating the safety of schools and surveying their demands for prefabricated buildings.

It has so far been confirmed that the quake left nearly 200 people dead and more than 12,000 others injured.