In Quake-Hit Kumamoto, Kids Back to School after Summer Break

Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Pref., Aug. 28 (Jiji Press)–Children returned to school after the summer break in Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture on Friday, a month after a major earthquake struck the southwestern Japan prefecture. The second term started at 40 elementary, junior high schools and special-needs schools in the city. Following the July 28 quake, which measured up to 7, the highest level on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, shelters were set up for evacuees at almost all of the schools. Shelters have been consolidated to make space for students to study ahead of the second term, according to the city’s education board. Currently, 16 schools in severely affected areas are hosting shelters. At Otago Elementary School, children arrived with smiles, rejoicing at reunion with friends. Shortly after 7 a.m., a girl was seen playing on an exercise bar in the schoolyard. Schoolchildren came down to the playground one after another, and some played soccer before school started. “I couldn’t play with friends because of the clearing work after the quake,” an 11-year-old girl in sixth grade said. “I’m happy that I can come to school.” In Yatsushiro, all six school lunch centers were damaged by the quake, and the kitchens in most schools are not usable. Until the lunch centers become operational, schools will serve vacuum-packed food for lunch, except for those with functioning kitchens. Students need to bring empty lunch boxes and chopsticks from home to use when they eat school lunch, because used dishes cannot be washed. In Kumamoto, 359 schools sustained damage from the quake, such as broken windows and cracks on buildings, the prefectural education board said. The second term will start on Tuesday at five elementary and junior high schools in the town of Hikawa. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]