Kathmandu (AsiaNews) - Hundreds of thousands of Nepalese children are back in school for the first time since the earthquake of April 25, which caused more than 8,700 deaths and 23 thousand injuries.
But the resumption of classes is completely partial, since thousands of classrooms were destroyed by the earthquake and subsequent aftershocks. Despite local authorities and international agencies having sought alternative solutions and t5he rush to provide makeshift classrooms, in fact, almost a million children do not have a school to go to.
To avoid children losing out on lessons 137 temporary spaces were built in the 16 worst affected districts. However, according to the UN and the Nepalese government , another 4,500 temporary schools should be built to allow all 985 thousand Nepalese children who still cannot, go back to school.
The government estimates that $ 7 billion, a third of the country's annual gross domestic product, will be needed to rebuild over 32 thousand destroyed school buildings.