Maar Shamarin (Syria): In the war-scarred southern Idlib countryside, Syrian families displaced for years are returning to rebuild their lives — and their children's schools. But the devastation left by more than a decade of conflict has left hundreds of schools gutted, looted, or beyond repair.

Five years after fleeing their hometown, Safiya al-Jurok and her family have returned to Maar Shamarin, living in a tent beside their ruined house. Her three children now attend the reopened local school, where classrooms lack desks, doors, and even windows. “If it rains, it'll rain on my children,” she said.

Principal Abdullah Hallak said students sit on the bare floor to study, exposed to the cold, as winter approaches. “Some parents keep their kids home because they get sick,” he added.

According to Syria's Deputy Education Minister Youssef Annan, 40 per cent of the country's schools remain destroyed, with most damage concentrated in Idlib and Hama. Only a tenth of Idlib's 350 damaged schools have been rehabilitated.

UNICEF estimates that between 2.5 and 3 million Syrian children are still out of school, many unable to afford books or supplies. The agency is supporting reconstruction, temporary classrooms, and teacher training to help restore access to education for returning refugees.

UNICEF's Meritxell Relaño Arana stressed that rebuilding schools is crucial not only for learning but also for healing trauma. “Children need to return to safe spaces where psychosocial support is available,” she said.