62 schools restart classes in Kumamoto after quake disaster

Classes resumed at 62 elementary and junior high schools in Kumamoto Prefecture on May 9, bringing a sense of normalcy to young lives in the quake-battered southern prefecture.

The remaining 111 public schools that are still suspending classes because of the disaster will restart them by May 11, according to the Kumamoto prefectural board of education and other sources.

Some of the 43 elementary schools and 19 junior high schools that resumed classes were using classrooms of other schools.

In the hard-hit town of Mashiki, students at quake-damaged Kiyama Junior High School arrived at Mashiki Chuo Elementary School on the morning of May 9, including some by shuttle buses from evacuation centers.

Some of the students were wearing gym clothes or private clothes because they had lost their school uniforms in the disaster.

“I am happy because I was able to see my friends after a long interval,” said a 12-year-old first-grader. “As I have yet to decide on which (extracurricular activity) club to join, I want to decide it from now.”

All elementary and junior high schools in Mashiki, the towns of Ozu, Kashima and Kosa, and the village of Minami-Aso resumed classes.

Some schools had already restarted classes in the city of Aso and the town of Mifune. The remaining schools in those municipalities resumed classes on May 9.

(ASAHISHINBUM)