New school opens in Chengdu after quake

By Li Yu (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-05-12 15:43

CHENGDU: Haike, the largest and best-equipped school built after the May 12 earthquake last year, opened Monday afternoon in the Wenjiang District of Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province.

Students participate in the opening ceremony of the Haike Primary School in Wenjiang District of Chengdu, Sichuan Province, May 11, 2009. [China Daily by Li Yu]

The magnitude-8.0 earthquake damaged the Liulin Experimental School and Tianfu Primary School in Wenjiang.

Some 1,711 teachers and students from Liulin had to teach and study in workshops covering 5,000 square meters in a local company, while their counterparts from the Tianfu Primary School had to stay in tents.

With an investment of more than 85 million yuan, the district built the Haike School which covers eight hectares in its central business district (CBD).

A total of 4.8 million yuan is donation from the Red Cross Society of China and the rest funs are from the district finance, according to Zhou Guangrong, chief of the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Education.

The Haike School, which has merged the Liulin Experimental School, Tianfu Primary School and Qingtaisi Primary School, can house 3,240 students and has 32 multimedia classrooms, computer rooms, labs and two tennis courts.

It is expected to serve some 50,000 locals in the district, Zhou said.