With no desks, library or even working toilets, Syrian children are pursuing their education under the shadow of war in Syria’s northern city of Idlib.
Around 100 children gather every day at a makeshift school in an abandoned villa to listen to lessons given by their teachers.
Dressed in bright blue T-shirts and jeans, the children sit or lie on sheets or plain carpets with their small backpacks cast by their side.
“This isn’t a school,” 11-year-old Ali Abdel Jawad told AFP news agency.
“There aren’t any classrooms, no seats, nothing. We’re sitting on the ground,” he added.
A Precarious School in the Middle of War
“This is not a school, there are no classrooms. We sit on the ground," says Abdul, a Syrian child whose education has been permanently changed by seven years of war.
Posted by AJ+ on Friday, 28 September 2018
War & displacement
The children — as well as their teachers — have been displaced from their homes in other parts of Syria due to the ongoing war in Syria, which erupted in 2011.
Schools in opposition-held areas are generally funded by aid groups, but have in the past been hit by regime forces.
“We’re always scared of bombardment and of the situation in general,” a teacher, who gave his name as Mohammed, said.