Education officials in Wenchuan County, epicenter of China's May 12 earthquake, are pressing neighboring school authorities to accept more of the county's 14,000 students who still have no place to resume their schooling.

The 8.0 magnitude earthquake destroyed most of the county's teaching buildings, said Hu Zhengan, director of the education bureau of Wenchuan, Sichuan Province.

"We can solve all problems by ourselves, but we can't help the children resume their studies because the buildings were destroyed, and they still face the dangers of aftershocks," said Hu.

Three universities in the provincial capital, Chengdu, had offered areas to accommodate classes for 800 children, but the county desperately needed help to transfer students to neighboring provinces, according to Thursday's Beijing Times.

Before the quake, the county had more than 15,000 students and 1,302 teachers, but 374 students and 28 teachers were killed on May 12.

Guangdong provincial government had pledged to erect 5,000 square meters of tents in Wenchuan to accommodate up to 500 students and teachers, but that was far short of meeting the requirements of all students.

Hu wished neighboring provinces could follow Guangdong's example or host some of the students to ensure their studies would not be interrupted for too long.

(Xinhua News Agency May 29, 2008)