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School closures across flood-striken Canterbury

<h2>Closures of schools and early learning services due to heavy rainfall and flooding in Canterbury&comma; have been a matter for each School Board or service manager to decide on a case by case basis&comma; the Ministry of Education confirmed&period;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"intro">On Tuesday&comma; 42 schools and kura &lpar;of the region’s 292&rpar; and 38 early learning services &lpar;of 544&rpar; had confirmed they were closed due to heavy rainfall and flooding&period; Two stretches of State Highway 1 remained out-of-bounds and the bridge over the Ashburton River was closed&period; It was too early to provide an assessment of the damage caused by the one-in-100-year weather event and many Canterbury residents were still on flood evacuation alert overnight&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In a statement&comma; the Ministry of Education said&comma; &&num;8220&semi;We are working closely with those schools&comma; kura and early learning services that need additional advice and support&period; The decision to close remains that of the school boards for schools and centre managers&sol;owners for early learning services&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Students&comma; parents and wh&amacr;nau were encouraged to check with their schools&comma; kura or early learning service on the status via regular channels such as their school&&num;8217&semi;s website&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The MoE said&comma; &&num;8220&semi;The best information will come from schools themselves&comma; and parents and wh&amacr;nau are advised to check their school or early learning service&&num;8217&semi;s website or Facebook page or contact them directly for the latest information&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As heavy rain fell and the waters rose in Canterbury on Sunday&comma; 52 of the region&&num;8217&semi;s 292 schools and kura schools and kura&comma; and 24 early learning services&comma; of 544&comma; had confirmed to the ministry they would close&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Deputy Secretary for Sector Enablement and Support&comma; Katrina Casey&comma; said &&num;8220&semi;a state of emergency does not automatically mean schools and early learning services will close&period; Boards and service managers are best placed to assess their local conditions and make these decisions&&num;8221&semi;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Adding&comma; &&num;8220&semi;We are working closely with those schools&comma; kura and early learning services that need additional advice and support&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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