NAN-F-46
Children
Rome, Feb. 23, 2017 (dpa/NAN) More than 84,000 children remain in an “educational desert” after a deadly earthquake that devastated central Italy last year, Save the Children, an NGO, warned on Thursday.
The organisation said 10,000 of children and teens were missing out in school, studying in tents, or having to travel far from home to get to class.
It said out of those affected, 30 per cent were under 5 years old and another 28 per cent were aged 6-11.
“Out of a total of 990 schools in the quake zone, one in 10 have been condemned and more than one in 4 have been declared partially or temporarily unfit for use.
“The non-governmental organisation said the reconstruction effort must focus on bringing kids out of what it described as an “educational desert.
“The Aug. 24 6.2-magnitude quake claimed 299 lives and razed scores of mountain communities across the Abruzzo, Lazio, Marche and Umbria regions,’’ the organisation said.
It was followed by two powerful tremors at the end of October and four quakes on January 18 this year.
The latter are thought to have caused a massive avalanche that engulfed a luxury mountain hotel in Abruzzo, killing 29.
In Italy, 5.5 million children under 15 live in high-to-medium-risk seismic areas, Save the Children said.
A total of 11,726 people left homeless by the quakes are being assisted by authorities, according to the latest Civil Protection Department figures.
Of these, more than 9,000 are living in hotels, 1,800 are camping out in gymnasiums and other facilities, and 760 moved into containers or prefabricated modules. (dpa/NAN)
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Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Abdullahi Yusuf