MAAR SHAMARIN, Syria — 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.

A schoolhouse with no windows or chairs

Safiya al-Jurok and her family fled the town of Maar Sharamin five years ago when Assad's army wrested control of the area from opposition forces.

After Assad's fall last December, the family returned home and are now living in a tent — the sa

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