Empty seats as schools reopen in Venezuela’s quake-hit Guaira

LA GUAIRA, Venezuela (AFP)—Schools in Venezuela's quake-scarred coastal state of La Guaira were deserted on Tuesday, a day after the start of the new school year, with many parents opting to keep children home for fear of further deadly tremors.

La Guaira, home to a popular resort of the same name north of Venezuela's capital Caracas, was devastated by powerful back-to-back quakes on June 24 that left over 6,500 people dead.

Dozens of schools were damaged in the worst disaster in the Caribbean country in decades, which reduced hundreds of buildings to rubble.

A further 60 schools were converted into shelters for thousands of people left homeless by the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes.

In some areas, lessons are being taught under a tarp.

In one such tented school on Tuesday, a teacher drew a circle on a blackboard as part of a discussion with 14 students on managing their emotions.

"They're still very sensitive. In any conversation you have with them, they always bring it (the earthquake) up, and it's always good to listen to them so they can process all that pent-up emotion," María Herrera, the 43-year-old teacher, explained to AFP.

Many parents were too fearful of a repeat disaster to allow their children back into a bricks-and-mortar classroom.

Just over 300 students have enrolled for the new school year at John Paul II Diocesan Educational Unit, one of the few schools open in the port city of La Guaira.

The school has capacity for more than double that.

Only seven children showed up on Tuesday.

"The return to classes will be gradual and safe, focusing primarily on the emotional well-being not only of our students but also of our staff," said the principal, Marco Antonio Espinoza.

Yanet Dominguez, a fifth-grade teacher at the school, said parents had been plying her with questions about the building's structural safety.

"I told them yes, that improvements have been made to the building this year, and that they shouldn't be afraid to send their children," she said.

Amni Nunez, a 40-year-old industrial engineer, sent his two young children back to school after deciding that life must go on.

"They need to understand that the world keeps spinning and that we have to learn to live with this new reality," he told AFP.