Children suffer as Syrian schools shut down

Aleppo has become one of Syria's main battlegrounds, where fierce fighting between rebels and government troops has crippled the city.

Many local children now spend their days in the streets, as the education system has shut down.

This newly built kindergarten held lessons for just one week before it was forced to close.

Once full with students, classrooms are littered with debris.

Despite the devastation, not all have given up hope.

Many of the city's mosques have now taken the place of schools.

Pupils here are learning rudimentary education such as basic maths and language skills.

The lessons offer a glimmer of hope, but the education shutdown is just one of the struggles facing Syria's children.

Activists say more than 40,000 people have now died in the conflict, which has no end in sight.