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Back to School

A math teacher in Cairo, Egypt, works with his class of six students in 1922.

Much like the anticipation of the first flower blossoms of spring, around the world parents (perhaps mostly) and children eagerly await the return of school classes in fall.

With new clothes and new school supplies, children return to classrooms with new optimism for another school year. And just as the spring flowers signal a transition from one season to another, back-to-school time signals a transition from vacation time to reading, writing, and arithmetic.

— Photo Gallery by Jessie Wender, Text by E. Ray Walker

Photograph by Donald Mcleish, Nat Geo Image Collection

Back-to-School Pictures: Exploring Education Around the World

As kids go back to school in the U.S., take a peek into classrooms worldwide, from Botswana to Syria.

Published September 6, 2014