Makeshift schools for Syria's displaced children - in pictures

Children learning again in the village of Haranabush despite lack of facilities

• 

  TOPSHOT - Displaced children peak out of holes in their classroom at a makeshift school, set-up in camp for internally displaced Syrians, in the village of Haranabush, in the country's rebel-held northwestern Idlib province on May 11, 2024. Since 2011, Syria has endured a bloody conflict that has claimed over half a million lives, displaced several million people and plunged the country into a suffocating economic crisis. The war's widespread destruction of infrastructure has particularly impacted education facilities, with many schools destroyed and other turned into shelters. A third of all school-age children, nearly 2. 4 million, did not attend school and another 1. 6 million children were at risk of dropping out, according to a recent report from the UN children's agency. Many have been forced to leave school to work and support their families who have struggled to meet their basic needs due to the drastic reduction in their purchasing power over the years of war and Western-imposed sanctions. (Photo by AAREF WATAD / AFP)

• 

  The school has been set up in a camp for internally displaced Syrians

• 

  Since 2011, Syria has endured a bloody civil war in which at least half a million people have been killed

• 

  The armed conflict began with an uprising against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad

• 

  It now involves various state-sponsored and non-state actors

• 

  Several million more have been displaced, while Syria has been plunged into a suffocating economic crisis

• 

  Education is supposed to be free and compulsory in Syria for children aged six to 15

• 

  But the widespread destruction of infrastructure has hit education facilities hard

• 

  Many schools have been destroyed and others turned into shelters

• 

  An aerial view shows displaced children arriving for class at the makeshift school in Haranabush, Idlib

• 

  The UN children's agency compiled a recent report on the schooling situation in Syria

• 

  One third of all school-age children, nearly 2.4 million, do not attend, it was found

• 

  Another 1.6 million were at risk of dropping out of school, the UN said

• 

  A pupil with a volunteer teacher at a lesson in Haranabush

• 

  Many pupils have been forced to leave school to work and support their families

• 

  Syrians have struggled to meet their basic needs throughout the long-running conflict

• 

  They have had to contend with a drastic reduction in their purchasing power and sanctions imposed by the West

• 

  But these displaced children in Haranabush are now receiving lessons at their makeshift school

• 

  It is hoped wider education can redress destabilisation in the country

More from The National:

Flash floods kill more than 300 in northern Afghanistan

The UAE like you've never seen it: before and after April's unprecedented storm

Lifelong Al Ain fan takes in Tokyo ahead of Asian Champions League final

How Jupiter acts as Earth's 'bodyguard' against cosmic threats