Education is essential to building better futures for children and young people.
Access to quality education positively impacts children and their families for generations to come. It can mean lifting a child and their family out of poverty or providing a young person with the knowledge and confidence to enter the workplace. For many children, going to school can be an opportunity to access nutrition and clean water, or for a young girl to break down gender barriers.
Around the world, the classroom is a place to learn, grow and play. Children develop skills they can take into adulthood and make lasting friendships. It’s also a haven during emergencies and in times of conflict, where children are protected from the threat of violence, exploitation and even child marriage.
These photos from around the world show that learning can happen anywhere. Whether in a classroom, at home or in a child-friendly space, education can be life-changing, helping children learn, grow and thrive despite the challenges they face.
Côte d'Ivoire
Children in Côte d’Ivoire are learning in classrooms built from an unexpected resource: recycled plastic waste. Discarded plastic is transformed into durable construction bricks and used to build new schools for children. This practical approach not only helps address environmental challenges but also creates safe, quality learning spaces where children can grow, learn and thrive.
By turning waste into opportunity, UNICEF and its partners are helping more children access education and supporting a cleaner, more sustainable future for their communities.
Vietnam
Linh, her 13-year-old sister and her great-grandmother live together on top of a hill, surrounded by trees and mountains. When a severe flood hit her commune in September 2025, the house was isolated with no clean water and Linh couldn't go to school for a week.
Following several storms and floods in 2025, many children in Northern and Central Vietnam experienced disruptions to their learning as schools and school supplies were damaged.
To help students return to their familiar learning routines, UNICEF's learning kits, which include a backpack and school supplies, were delivered to primary school students like Linh, turning bedrooms into makeshift classrooms.
Sudan
By the end of 2025, 10.8 million children in Sudan were out of safe learning environments because of school destruction, displacement, and service collapse.
UNICEF supports structured e-learning for hundreds of children in Sudan through safe learning spaces where children access digital lessons using tablets and headphones.
The program helps displaced children continue their education despite months of disruption, which includes education, child protection, health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene services.
India
Children with visual or mobility disabilities often face physical barriers that can make school difficult to access, limiting their opportunities to participate, learn and thrive alongside their peers.
At this school in India, inclusive infrastructure is helping to remove those barriers. Ramps, handrails, tactile paving and high-contrast colours enable children with blindness, low vision and mobility disabilities to move around the school safely and independently, giving them greater confidence and freedom to participate in daily school life.
These improvements help transform schools into places where every child feels welcome, included and empowered to learn. By creating barrier-free learning environments, UNICEF is helping ensure that children with disabilities have the same opportunity as their peers to develop skills, build confidence and reach their full potential.
Vanuatu
When a 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck in Vanuatu, frightened students ran from their classroom. Many of the children had already been affected by a powerful earthquake a few months earlier, which damaged schools across the area and disrupted learning.
The aftershock occurred while UNICEF staff were setting up temporary classrooms to help children return to school safely. Despite the fear and uncertainty, Cassandra worked to comfort her students and continue lessons once it was safe to do so.
For children recovering from a disaster, school provides more than education, it offers routine, stability and a sense of security. Through temporary learning spaces and support from partners, UNICEF helps ensure children could continue learning while their community began to recover.
Dedicated teachers like Cassandra provide a critical role in helping children regain confidence and hope after an emergency.
Afghanistan
Wahida stopped attending school one year ago after reaching 6th grade. Since the authorities prevented girls from accessing secondary education in September 2021, 2.2 million girls have been denied their right to learn.
If this ban remains in place until 2030, more than four million girls like Wahida will be denied their right to education beyond primary school.
"It has been a year since I was stopped from going to school, and I have been staying at home. Ever since I had to stop, I have felt very sad and heartbroken. I am far from my lessons, and I cannot see my classmates or my friends anymore. Since I stopped going to school, I have not heard from my friends because I do not have a mobile phone, and their houses are far from ours."
Wahida’s mother had always dreamed her daughter would receive an education. “I did not have the chance to study so I wanted my daughter to succeed and not remain without education like me,” she explains.
“We always dreamed that our daughter would become a teacher or a doctor. Now, when I think that she cannot finish her education, it is painful. For these girls, their time is being wasted.”
Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, learning brings a group of girls outside to gather around a flower and examine its details through hand lenses provided by UNICEF. By observing the flower up close, the students can explore scientific concepts in a practical and engaging way, transforming lessons from theory into real-world discovery.
Through hands-on learning experiences beyond the classroom walls, students are strengthening their understanding of the natural world and developing a deeper appreciation for science in their everyday studies.
Nepal
For Sarjana, the new learning centre in her community is more than a place to study. She and her classmates can continue their education there after their school was severely damaged by monsoon-triggered landslides.
Supported by UNICEF and their partners, the new learning space helped Sarjana return to her daily routine, study with her classmates, and feel secure despite the disruption caused by the disaster.
By ensuring her education continues uninterrupted, the centre is helping Sarjana build confidence in her future and providing a sense of normalcy at a time when climate-related shocks have upended the lives of many families in her community.
State of Palestine
In Gaza, 97% of schools have been damaged or destroyed, leaving almost no safe spaces for learning.
At a UNICEF-supported temporary learning centre, children are regaining a sense of normalcy through structured lessons, peer support, and a protective learning environment. With classrooms set up to keep education going, children can reconnect with learning and continue building the skills they need for the future.
Help give every child the chance to learn
Every child has the right to learn. But every year, conflict and crisis are denying millions of them that right. With regular and reliable support from people like you, UNICEF can reach the most vulnerable children with education, set up schools in conflict zones and stay on the ground to help children start learning again after a natural disaster hits.
Your monthly gift makes it all possible and helps UNICEF keep children in school by:
- Providing teachers with the training and supplies they need to help children reach their potential
- Supplying safe water and hygiene facilities to schools to keep children attending
- Delivering temporary learning shelters so children can keep learning when disaster strikes
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