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Back to school for washed-out students

By Huang Yiming and Xie Yu (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-10-21 08:20

HAIKOU: About 3,000 children whose schools were flooded last week resumed their lessons, some in temporary tented classrooms, Monday, local officials told China Daily.

"Classes have been restarted at four of the five flooded schools," Wang Jian, an official for the education bureau in the Longhua district of Haikou, said.

Students at the Longhong village primary school had been off school since Tuesday.

A village official surnamed Wu, said: "Ten tents were put up on Saturday and all 100 of our students are now back in school."

At the Longquan town middle school, however, roads leading to the school remain underwater, teacher Wu Yizhong said.

"The first floor of the teachers' dorm is completely flooded and the path in front of the school gate is still impassible," he said.

"We hope to be able to resume classes tomorrow, but that depends on whether we can get rid of all the water."

About 400 children and teachers at the school were left stranded overnight after the floods struck on Tuesday.

Several local people told China Daily they believed the flooding was caused by a prolonged period of heavy rain and the disruption to the drainage system caused by the construction of a new ring road.

An official with the city's construction department, however, said he was unaware of any problems caused by the road's construction.