Syrian children go back to school – in pictures

Ahmed al-Fikri helps his 12-year-old son Abdo al-Fikri with his homework at their family house in Madaya village, an opposition-held village in northern Syria. It has been a year since Fikri and his siblings were last in school Photograph: AP

Despite a constant risk of bombardment, Fikri and about 200 other pupils returned to school this week in a village desperately seeking normality Photograph: AP

Children pose in Madaya village school. Millions of Syrian children, most of them in government-controlled areas, have returned to school in the past two weeks Photograph: AP

Syrian children run downstairs at the public school in Madaya village as classes begin again. 4,000 Syrian schools have been damaged, destroyed or are sheltering displaced families Photograph: AP

Children on their way to school in Aleppo, Syria. Unicef is supporting a Back to Learning campaign by the ministry of education Photograph: Jm Lopez/EPA

Syrian students salute while listening to the national anthem before entering their classrooms in Hassan Shuaib school in Damascus, Syria Photograph: AP

Children attend class in a school in the Masaki Hanano district in Aleppo Photograph: Jm Lopez/EPA

Children wait to enter the primary school in the Saif al-Dawla district in Aleppo Photograph: Jm Lopez/EPA

Children walk among debris from a damaged school building in the Damascus suburb of Zamalka Photograph: Abou Nidal alshami /Reuters

For many of the children in Madaya, just being back in the classroom is a reminder of what life was like before the war Photograph: AP

Activists say that in rebel-held areas, which have largely descended into chaos, more than half the schools are closed. The few that are functional are constantly under threat Photograph: AP

Children sit in front of their family's house in Madaya village after school. The area has seen ongoing battles between opposition forces and troops loyal to the president, Bashar al-Assad, forcing the school to shut Photograph: AP