Maputo — The Mozambican education authorities have announced that 88 schools will remain closed during the first days of the 2005 school year as a result of extreme violence carried out by Islamist terrorists in some districts of the northern province of Cabo Delgado.

The schools that will remain closed are located in the districts of Meluco, Ibo, Quissanga, Macomia, Ancuabe and Mocímboa da Praia.

Rachide Sualehe, spokesperson of the Cabo Delgado Provincial Directorate of Education told reporters there has been significant progress, as 924 schools are in operation, out of the 1,012 in the province.

For his part, the provincial governor, Valige Tauabo, said that 722,554 pupils will be enrolled in all levels of education in the current school year, compared to 709,362 last year.

The classes, he said, are starting in a context of many challenges, with the need to rebuild 1,419 classrooms destroyed by Tropical Cyclone Chido, which hit several districts in the northern provinces of Cabo Delgado and Nampula in December, causing the deaths of at least 94 people.