MUZAFFARABAD, Oct 25: Seven-year-old Mohammad Bilal was a disappointed boy on Tuesday when he went to his damaged school, hoping to go back to class for the first time since the Oct. 8 earthquake.

Hardly anyone else turned up and no lessons were held.

The Azad Kashmir government said 17 schools would reopen on Tuesday, most in the compounds of their destroyed or badly damaged buildings, but many worried parents kept their children away and hardly any teachers turned up at Bilal’s.

Only one other tried to resume in tents and it was the same story there.

“No one from my class has come. They may be scared because the school building is badly damaged,” said Bilal, wearing a smart uniform of white shirt and grey trousers.

“But they should come otherwise the government will close our school,” he said.—Reuters