Primary and middle school students in mudslide-battered Zhouqu County in northwest China's Gansu Province began their new school semester Wednesday, after the disaster claimed 1,447 lives on Aug. 8.

The students were to start the new semester on Aug. 15, but the mudslide disrupted the plan since two schools were damaged and three others were used as resettlement areas. The new semester was postponed for ten days, said Dan Zhita, deputy chief of the provincial Education Department.

Students got their text books and school supplies for free Tuesday.

"I got a school bag, tooth brush, tooth paste and towel," said Wang Jiahao, a pupil of No. 2 Primary School Tuesday.

Many students and over 40 teachers were killed in the mudslide. In No. 1 Primary School alone, nine teachers and 78 pupils died.

"Many teachers were killed and so I was worried that my children might not be able to attend school. So today I am very happy to be dropping them off at school," said Wang Kexian, who has been living in a tent since the disaster.

To replace the deceased teachers, 54 teachers from neighboring areas have been dispatched to Zhouqu, and 12 volunteer teachers will arrive by the end of August, said Guo Yongming, deputy chief of the county education bureau.

Only one student, Gao Golmud, missed the first day of school in teacher Yang Bin's class at No. 1 Primary School.

"Gao lost his mother in the mudslide. He is a good kid. He will return to school after his mother's funeral," said Yang.

Zhouqu has two primary schools, two junior high schools and one senior high school. The primary schools were damaged in the mudslide, but fortunately students were not attending lessons at the time as it occurred at night during the summer vacation.

Students of No.1 High School, the only senior high, will be transferred to Gansu's Lanzhou and Dingxi Cities and start the new semester on Sept. 1. And the school buildings will be used by pupils of the two primary schools, said Dan.

"The new school is very far from my home. My kids have to walk for an hour and I am a little worried about their safety," said Wang Kexian.

The disaster is weighing heavily on the minds' of Zhouqu's children.

"Whenever it rains, I get scared, since I am afraid another mudslide will come," said Shu Xiaohui, a 9-year-old girl.

It was a near miss for Shu and her father. They heard the mudslide coming and run out of their house just before it was engulfed.

Counseling will be provided to all students to help them overcome their trauma, said Han Lezhong, head of the No. 3 Junior High.

More than 1,700 mudslide evacuees previously residing at schools began to be relocated Wednesday to Shachuan Village, in the western part of the mudslide-leveled county.

The devastating mudslide which hit on Aug. 8 have claimed 1,447 lives with 318 people still missing as of Tuesday.