A preliminary U.N. estimate reportedly calls for at least 4,000 temporary classrooms in Haiti.

Pierre Michel Laguerre, director general of Haiti’s Education Ministry, said that while some areas of the country that were particularly hard hit may not see their schools reopen until next fall, some were getting ready to reopen Monday.

He said an untold number of students have lost one or both parents in the earthquake and the trauma of the disaster has made it imperative that Haiti’s schools reopen as quickly as possible.

“Haiti can’t have a future without educated children,” Laguerre said. “But there has been so much destruction, it’s a big and unprecedented challenge for us.”

Laguerre told the Journal all of the schools on the western side of Port au-Prince were completely destroyed by the temblor, with 40 percent in the southern percent of the capital severely damaged.

As many as 8,000 schools that served 1.8 million children have been destroyed or damaged in the Port-au-Prince area alone, according to the U.N.

With an untold number of children having lost one or both parents, and almost all needing a distraction from the horrors they have witnessed, resuming school has become an urgent priority.

“It gives those traumatized children the feeling that life is back,” said Elisabeth Byrs, a United Nations spokeswoman, “and it helps.”