China will mark the first anniversary this week of the devastating earthquake that flattened towns in Sichuan province, killing nearly 90,000 people, including students crushed in the rubble of thousands of poorly built schools.

The construction of new schools in the earthquake zone is well underway, but the emotional scars are still raw.

One year on, some parents who lost their children are speaking out against what they say is a government cover-up of the shoddy construction of schools.

In Wufu village, where the collapse of schools led to angry protests over shoddy construction, residents spoke to CTV News this week.

Xiong Ying, whose 10-year-old daughter Liu Xin Yui was killed in the quake when the ceiling of her classroom collapsed, is one of several parents who allege their pleas for officials to investigate have been met with threats.

She told CTV "the more the government tries to stop us the more we believe they are covering something up," adding, "we need answers so our children's souls can be at peace."

Parents have claimed that corrupt officials or contractors had used sub-standard building materials.

When confronted with allegations local officials embezzled money meant for the proper construction of schools, the town's mayor told CTV News it was best not to look in the past.

The government has so far has invested more than 360 billion yuan (C$60 billion) in reconstruction programs, and has helped vulnerable earthquake victims including the elderly, handicapped and orphaned children.

This past week China said 5,335 schoolchildren died or remained missing from the earthquake, a much lower number than estimates compiled from news reports at the time and projected by some experts and critics.

The government has yet to release names of the dead students.

Beijing has admitted that nearly 14,000 schools -- some of them poorly or hastily built -- were damaged in the magnitude-8 earthquake.

The remains of some collapsed schools remain sealed off.

Some parents have told Western journalists authorities have previously stopped them from going to the schools to commemorate their dead children, and fear they won't be able to do so on May 12, the first anniversary.

Last week Hou Xiongfei, the vice head of propaganda of Sichuan province, accused Western journalists of seeking to incite quake victims into anti-government protests.

With a report by CTV's Steve Chao in Wufu, China.