More than 300 kindergartens, primary and middle schools in Tianjin Binhai New Area, including 16 affected by the huge blasts on Aug 12, began the new semester on Monday.

School buildings damaged by the blasts have been repaired, and the environment is safe for students and teachers, according to monitoring data, said Fang Hua, an official at the area's education department.

As of Monday afternoon, the blasts that rocked a warehouse storing hazardous chemicals had claimed 158 lives, including 94 firefighters, and left 15 missing.

A total of 356 people are still hospitalized and four are in critical condition.

About 160 students have changed schools temporarily or permanently due to the disaster's impact on their families.

Zhang Jingyu, a fourth-grader at Tianjin TEDA Maple Leaf International School, said: "I was a bit worried about the impact on our campus. But when I saw my classmates and teachers again and found the classrooms were perfect, I felt pretty good."

The school, which is about 2 kilometers from the warehouse, had about 2,300 square meters of window glass affected by the explosion, according to Principal Liu Changyong.

In addition to replacing the broken windows and cleaning the campus, an environmental monitoring vehicle has been stationed on campus, and results are being released twice a day.

Wang Sining, head of Tianjin TEDA Maple Leaf International Kindergarten, said, "If the children talk about the explosions, our teachers have been trained to encourage them to voice their feelings."

Two of the three main containers at the blast zone had been cleaned by Sunday, according to the Tianjin Information Office.

On Sunday, the Housing Management Department in Tianjin Binhai New Area announced a plan to handle apartments damaged at seven residential compounds near the blast scene.

Under the plan, the apartments will be sold to an association of State-owned property developers that was formed after the accident to deal with the issue. The price will be the higher of the purchasing and market prices before the accident.

The apartments can be repaired by the government for free. For residential compounds still being built, apartment owners can either cancel the deal or proceed with it.

Extra compensation will be granted by the local government to all affected households, whatever their choice.

tangyue@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/01/2015 page5)