Classrooms around the world
A look at learning around the world from students in well-resourced schools to those crammed into corridors in the Philippines, on boats in Brazil and crowded classrooms in Burundi.
While in many places around the globe it continues to be a a struggle to gain an education, particularly for girls, amid intimidation in Pakistan, conflict in Syria or poverty in Vietnam, the overall number of children not attending primary school has plummeted to an estimated 57 million worldwide in 2015, according to the U.N. That is down from 100 million 15 years ago.
In this photo, teacher Ana Dorrego poses with students of the rural school Agustin Ferreira on the outskirts of Minas city, Uruguay, September 15, 2015. The school has 12 students aged 4 to 11, with only one teacher. Activities include milking a cow, planting vegetables and cooking.
Classrooms around the world
Teacher Archana Shori poses for a picture with 7th-grade students inside their classroom at Rukmini Devi Public school in New Delhi, India, September 7, 2015.
In India, four percent of children never start school and 58% never complete primary school, according to Teach for India. The organization says only 10% go on to college.
Classrooms around the world
Art teacher Hanna Snitko poses for a picture with final year students, aged 16 to 17, of the Ukrainian Humanities Lyceum in their classroom in Kiev, September 24, 2015.
Eleven years of school is mandatory in the Ukraine.
SClassrooms around the world
Children of the Satere Mawe Indian tribe school at the Sahu Ape village pose for a picture in Manacapuru, Amazonas state, Brazil, July 10, 2015.
Classrooms around the world
A teacher leads a class at the ecole primaire Ave Marie in Burundi's capital Bujumbura, April 24, 2015.
School is mandatory for children from 7-13 years-old, but due to the civil war that ended in 2005 and continued unrest the country's children face many obstacles from destroyed schools, lack of teachers and poor access to educational resources. Over a quarter of the schools were destroyed during the war, according to the non-profit organization Concern.
The literacy rate in Burundi is just under 60%.
Classrooms around the world
The desire to learn doesn't start and stop with the young. Teacher Guillermo Valenzuela poses for a picture with his primary school students who are attending night school for adults in a popular neighborhood of Santiago, Chile at Laura Vicuña school, September 10, 2015.
The school is named after a young girl who died at the age of 13 after being beaten by the man her mother lived with before she could become old enough to fulfill her wish to join a convent. Vicuña's mother had agreed to live with the man in exchange for her daughter's education. Vicuña was beatified by Pope John Paul II and is the patron of abuse victims.
Classrooms around the world
Students of the Don Bosco Technical Collegue pose for a picture in Quito, Ecuador, September 16, 2015.
In Ecuador, the youth literacy rate for 15-24 year-olds in 2012 was approximately 98% for both girls and boys, according to Unicef.
Classrooms around the world
Master Mohammad Ayoub poses with his fifth grade students at a local park in Islamabad, Pakistan September 18, 2015.
Ayoub, a Pakistani civil servant, started his program to educate underprivileged children in 1985. Ayoub provides the educational supplies from his income as a civil servant tp teach the children English, Urdu and math.
Their classroom is in a local park when the weather is good and in a room in the local slum in the rainy season.
Classrooms around the world
First grade students and their teacher Teruko Takakusaki pose for a photo during their homeroom period at the end of the school day at Takinogawa Elementary School in Tokyo, Japan, September 18, 2015.
The rate of school attendance for the required nine years is nearly 100%. Education in Japan is extremely competitive and 90% of parents send their children to cram schools.
Classrooms around the world
Third grade students attend class at the Mashal Model School on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, September 19, 2015.
The school, founded by Zeba Husain, caters to children of underprivileged families from different parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan living in the village of Bari Imam who, outside of school, are street vendors, scavengers, beggars and car washers.
Classrooms around the world
Teachers Carla Smith and Laura Johnson pose with their third grade class at Jesse Sherwood Elementary School in the Englewood neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, September 23, 2015.
The U.S. spends more per student on education than any other developed country. American students rank 14th worldwide in cognitive skills, however.
Classrooms around the world
Mohammed Zurob marks an exercise for his first grade students during an English lesson in a classroom at Taha Huseen elementary school in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, September 28, 2015.
Classrooms around the world
Teacher Kristine Passag holds a Values Education class for 9th grade students in a hallway of Timoteo Paez High School in metro Manila, Philippines, September 15, 2015.
Passag says she is temporarily holding classes in hallways while waiting for the completion of a new school building to address the shortage of classrooms.
Classrooms around the world
Teacher Mahajera Armani and her class of girls pose for a picture at their study area, founded by Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), outside Jalalabad city, Afghanistan, September 19, 2015.
During the Taliban's reign, less than one million children attended school in the country. Though that figure has increased to six million with one third of them girls, women's literacy in Afghanistan is still among the lowest in the world at around 14%, according to the United Nations Girls' Education Initiative.
Classrooms around the world
Students in Dr. Hugh McCormick's lower sixth politics division (year 12) sit in their classroom in Old Schools at Harrow School in Middlesex, Britain, June 16, 2015.
Notable Old Harrovians include Winston Churchill, King Hussein of Jordan, Lord Byron and Benedict Cumberbatch.
Classrooms around the world
Tahfiz or Koranic students pose for a photograph in Madrasah Nurul Iman boarding school outside Malaysia's capital city, Kuala Lumpur, September 11, 2015.
There are 36 male students at the madrasah, ranging from 11 to 18 years of age.
Classrooms around the world
Giang Thi May teaches a first grade class at the primary school of Van Chai in Dong Van district, on the border with China, north of Hanoi in Vietnam, September 21, 2015.
There is no electricity and no books. She teaches the children in the local Hmong language.
Classrooms around the world
Students of the 10th form of the Gymnasium 1567 pose for a group portrait together with their history teacher Tamara Eidelman, in Moscow, September 23, 2015.
Classrooms around the world
Teacher Moulay Ismael Lamrani poses with his class in the Oudaya primary school in Rabat, September 15, 2015, at the start of the new school year in Morocco.
Classrooms around the world
Children of the floating Municipal School Sao Jose II pose along the Amazonas River bank in a rural area of Manaus, Brazil, June 18, 2015.
Classrooms around the world
Teacher Hanan Anzi poses with with her Syrian refugee students inside their classroom at one of the UNICEF schools at Al Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, September 22, 2015.
Classrooms around the world
Year 10 high school students in a vocational program with a maritime focus pose at Artes y Oficios Melchor Lasso de la Vega school in Panama City, September 4, 2015.