![Syrian children carry their schoolbooks in Tal Abyad, Syria on December 23, 2019 [Bekir Kasım/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/20191223_2_39983410_50610225.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
More than three million Syrian students returned to school on Sunday in government-held areas amid strict measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus, SANA state media reported.
According to the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, more than 7,000 schools were damaged or destroyed since the start of the conflict in the country in 2011, leaving some two million children out of school and over five million Syrias refugees, mostly in neighbouring countries.
After nearly a decade of infighting, the Syrian regime, backed by Russia and Iran, now controls most of the country.
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