Photos show Syrian students returning to schools stripped bare by conflict

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In the southern Idlib countryside, once a frontline in Syrian civil war, residents are trickling back to their villages after years in exile.

Repairing and reopening damaged and looted schools is key to the return of the displaced, but nearly a year after former President Bashar Assad was ousted in a rebel offensive, hundreds of schools are still destroyed.

Millions of children in Syria remain out of school, while others are attending class in gutted buildings without basic supplies.

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.