ALGIERS, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- More than nine million Algerian students joined pres and elementary schools, middle schools, and secondary schools Wednesday after a three-month summer break, amid concerns by some parents over the outbreak of cholera in schools.
These schoolchildren and students study at 27,351 institutions of the three school levels. They are supervised by 749,232 officials, 89.9 percent of whom are teachers, according to figures provided by the Ministry of Education.
The official kick-off of the 2018-2019 school year was announced by Education Minister, Nouria Benghebrit, from the province of Mascara, 375 km southwest Algiers.
In her first day school speech, the minister reassured that special measures have been taken to prevent the outbreak of cholera in schools, saying all water tanks and sanitary sites have been cleaned.
The minister was responding to fears expressed by parents that their children may become victims of the epidemic disease which hit several provinces recently in northern Algeria.
