MEXICO CITY, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Some 20 million preschool, primary and secondary students in Mexico returned to schools on Monday, 17 days after the government halted classes with an effort to check the spread of A/H1N1 flu.

    Higher education institutions had resumed classes on Thursday while a series of sanitary measures recommended by authorities have been taken.

    Earlier Monday, Mexico's Health Ministry raised the death toll from the new strain of the flu -- which causes headaches, breathing difficulties, high temperatures and muscular pain -- to56, noting that the rise of the tally was caused by catching up with the backlog of untested samples.

    Although media reports said a soldier died in Cuidad Juarez on Sunday, the last confirmed death previous to that happened on Thursday. The total sickened was raised to 2,059.

    "It is important to follow the rigorous measures because the circumstances demand it," said Mexico's Public Education Minister Alonso Lujambio, who inspected the preparations at the Benito Juarez Primary School, in the central Mexico City borough of Roma. "This disease has a cure and large quantities of this cure exist," he added.

    Lujambio noted that 90 percent of the nation's 200,000 schools had implemented the new norms, including checks for flu symptoms at the main entrances, and hand-washing with anti-bacterial gel.

    "The checks look OK, but I do think that we, the parents, need to be aware of what our children have, take more care of them and pay attention," said Rosa Rojas, who was taking her 10-year-old son Edwin Romero to school Monday morning.

    "It was nice because I didn't have to get up so early, but now I want to see my friends," Edwin said. "Also my mom says that we are going to be on holiday again soon," he added.

    The Public Education Ministry will publish a revised timetable for the national school year later this week. The school term is normally 200 days, which means the lost classes account for nearly nine percent of scheduled schooling.

    Eight states -- Michoacan, San Luis Potos, Jalisco, Hidalgo, Chiapas, Zacatecas, Nayarit and Guerrero -- decided to postpone reopening their schools.

    Mexico's Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said classrooms are not as risky as other enclosed spaces, like public transport where large numbers of passengers pass though a small space.

Special Report:  World Tackles A/H1N1 Flu