China's Ministry of Education (MoE) has told schools in the southwest China quake zone to suspend classes according to local needs, a ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

Some schools in the area had been severely damaged and principals should consider conditions before allowing classes to go ahead, MoE spokesman Wang Xuming said during a routine press conference.

Wang said school losses in the area had not yet been calculated and the ministry had asked local governments to compile casualty figures and assess property damage.

Wang said education authorities were still considering how and when to hold the annual national college entrance examination -- scheduled for June 7 to 9 -- in the affected areas.

The Sichuan provincial education department had suggested a suspension or postponement of the exam, but the final decision had not been made and officials were still investigating possibilities, he said.

Since the magnitude 7.8 earthquake on Monday, China's education sector has received more than 130 million yuan (US$14.3 million) in private donations for repairs and rebuilding in quake-hit areas.

Media mogul Run Run Shaw made the biggest donation, giving 100 million HK dollars (US$12.8 million), followed by Ping An Insurance (Group) Company with 30 million yuan.

On Wednesday, the MoE and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) allocated an emergency fund of 50 million yuan to assist teachers and students.

Other contributions are expected to come through a campaign initiated by China Education Development Foundation, a national public funding organization supported by the MoE and MoF.

(Xinhua News Agency May 16, 2008)