Schools in Nepal will reopen Sunday, just over a month after this poor Himalayan nation was hit by a devastating magnitude-7.8 earthquake.About 8,000 schools have been affected in one way or another, and 30,000 classrooms completely destroyed. Reconstruction and retrofitting of school buildings may take 2-3 years.
Most classrooms will be outdoors, sheltered under tarpaulins, in a stark reminder of the earth's horrific power and the growing effort to bring life back to a semblance of normalcy.The government of Nepal has planned to deploy 15,000 temporary and transitional learning centers to restart the education process immediately.In many of the most devastated areas, schools may not reopen. In the badly hit districts of Gorkha, Sindhupalchowk and Nuwakot, the government estimates that 90% of schools collapsed. In the Kathmandu Valley, more than half the school buildings have been used as emergency shelters.
