First-grade students learn the right way to wear a face mask at the Jiuquan Road Primary School in Lanzhou, Gansu province, on April 23. They are among the last group of primary and high school students returning to school in the city. (PEI QIANG / FOR CHINA DAILY)

As China has gradually brought the novel coronavirus outbreak under control, primary schools and high schools in many regions have begun opening for the new semester.

Students in their final years of senior and junior high school resumed classes first. Most colleges and universities are planning to start classes on campus next month.

Students in their senior year return to the East China Normal University's No 1 High School in Shanghai on April 27. (LIU YING / XINHUA)

A medical worker teaches students the right way to wash their hands at a primary school in Deqing county, Zhejiang province, on April 27. (WANG ZHENG / FOR CHINA DAILY)

Workers disinfect a classroom at the No 4 High School in Huichang county, Jiangxi province, on April 1, as part of the school's effort to reopen to students. (ZHU HAIPENG / FOR CHINA DAILY)

Students in their final year of junior high eat lunch at the Gaoxin High School in Weinan, Shaanxi province, on April 7. (CUI ZHENGBO / FOR CHINA DAILY)

Students line up to enter the No 1 School in Xianju county, Zhejiang, on April 20. Primary students from fourth grade to sixth grade returned to school in the province the same day. (WANG HUABIN / XINHUA)

Arts major students attend a dance class at Urumqi Vocational University in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on April 8. (WANG FEI / XINHUA)

Children receive their study materials for online classes at the Huayuanchun No 2 Primary School in Beijing on April 8. (ZOU HONG / CHINA DAILY)