Altogether 1,586 flood-stricken schools in southern region of Thailand postponed their opening up for new term until November 8, Chinnaworn Boonyakiat, minister of Education, said on Thursday.

Chinnaworn Boonyakiat believed the schools that have been impacted by flooding may need at least seven days to fully recover.

Originally, new semester is scheduled to begin on Nov. 1 nationwide but the adverse effect of widespread flooding has delayed the opening.

For the hardest hit schools such as Hat Yai Withayakom, in Songkhla province, they may take up to 10 days before being able to run the operation.

According to the minister, six-million-baht (201,954 U.S. dollars) relief fund will be allocated to the regional Office of Higher Education and eight million baht (269,272 U.S. dollars) to Office of Basic Education for the purpose of reconstruction and repairs.

Meanwhile, the cabinet meeting also approved 20,000 baht (6,732 U.S. dollars) for each of a hundred educational area offices as an initial relief fund.

A total of 11 southern provinces have been affected by the flooding, caused by three days of torrential rains since Sunday, which left 12 people dead, Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department reported Thursday.