Delayed vacation

A NOTICE issued by the Guangdong Provincial Education Department on Thursday said that in principle, the summer vacation for the province’s middle and primary school students should start no later than Aug. 1.

Middle and primary schools are allowed to delay the commencement of summer vacation to make up students’ school hours taken away by the COVID-19 outbreak, said the notice.

The notice also pointed out that the online courses the students have taken since March 2 can be counted as part of formal schooling for this year’s spring semester.

“The fall semester shall follow the regular teaching and educating arrangement,” said the notice. “All the middle and primary schools shall not arrange courses on official holidays and the stipulation is also applicable to students in their first and second year of high school.”

Large gas belt

AN oilfield branch of PetroChina, China’s largest oil and gas producer, announced their discovery of a huge natural gas belt with an estimated reserve of over 1 trillion cubic meters in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province.