Nearly three years after Taliban gunmen shot Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, the teenage activist challenged world leaders at the United Nations to help millions more children go to school.
Students in Irena Chmura’s Salusbury World class, which includes students from Year 1 to Year 6, pose in their classroom in London, Britain June 25, 2015. Salusbury World is a charity that supports refugee and asylum seeking children and families.
Her call last week comes ahead of World Teachers’ Day on October 5, a UNESCO initiative highlighting the work of educators struggling to teach children amid intimidation in Pakistan, conflict in Syria or poverty in Vietnam.
Teacher Kahon Rochel poses for a picture with students inside their classroom at the the EPV Sinai primary school in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
Around 120 million children are out of school and a further 250 million are illiterate despite attending school, the World Bank said in May.
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, Vietnam, September 21, 2015.
But there have been some improvements.
Syrian refugee students in second grade wait for the start of their first lesson of the year at Fatih Sultan Mehmet Primary School in Ankara, Turkey, September 28, 2015.
The number of children not attending primary school has plummeted to an estimated 57 million worldwide in 2015, the U.N. says. Fifteen years ago, when the Millennium Development Goals called for universal primary school education, 100 million children were out of primary school.
Tahfiz or Koranic students pose for a photograph in Madrasah Nurul Iman boarding school outside Malaysia’s capital city, Kuala Lumpur September 11, 2015.
Worldwide, the number of schools is growing rapidly – both private schools for the middle class and wealthy and cash-strapped government schools in places like Kenya, where poorly paid teachers have downed tools to demand more pay.
Primary 3 pupils from Mill Strand Integrated Primary School in the town of Portrush pose for a group picture with their teacher Mrs Martin in Northern Ireland, June 17, 2015.
Many schools lack teachers, chairs, electricity or books. Others even lack buildings.
Tahfiz or Koranic students recite the Koran in Madrasah Nurul Iman boarding school outside Malaysia’s capital city, Kuala Lumpur, September 11, 2015.
But children seem willing to learn anywhere. Classes are in corridors in the Philippines, onboard boats in Brazil or in a local park in Pakistan.
Schoolchildren listen to a teacher as they study during a class in the Oudaya primary school in Rabat, September 15, 2015, at the start of the new school year in Morocco.
Teacher Moulay Ismael Lamrani poses for a picture with his class in the Oudaya primary school in Rabat, September 15, 2015, at the start of the new school year in Morocco.
Teacher Marcos Paulo Geronimo poses for a picture with first grade high school students from the Dante Alighieri school in their classroom in Sao Paulo, Brazil, September 16, 2015.
Teacher Reginald Sikhwari poses for a picture with his class of grade 11 students at Sekano-Ntoane school in Soweto, South Africa, September 17, 2015.
Primary 7 pupils from Glenaan Primary School in the Glens of Antrim pose for a group picture in their classroom with their teacher and school principal Mr. Close in Northern Ireland, June 22, 2015.
Teacher Elizabeth Moguel poses for a photograph with her seventh grade Latin class at Boston Latin School in Boston, Massachusetts September 17, 2015.
Teachers Carla Smith and Laura Johnson pose for a picture with their third grade class at Jesse Sherwood Elementary School in the Englewood neighbourhood in Chicago, Illinois, United States, September 23, 2015.
Mohammed Zurob marks an exercise for his first grade students during an English lesson inside a classroom at Taha Huseen elementary school in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip September 28, 2015.
Teacher Kristine Passag holds a Values Education class for Grade 9 students in a hallway of Timoteo Paez High School in metro Manila, Philippines, September 15, 2015.
Teacher Ana Dorrego poses with students of the rural school Agustin Ferreira on the outskirts of Minas city, Uruguay, September 15, 2015.
Nguyen Thi Phuong teaches a third-grade class in the primary school of Van Chai in Dong Van district, bordered with China, north of Hanoi, Vietnam, September 21, 2015.
Pupils pose for a photograph in Ms. Yasmin Hussain’s year 6 class at Salusbury Primary School in London, Britain, June 25, 2015.
Teacher Mahajera Armani and her class of girls pose for a picture at their study open area, founded by Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), outside Jalalabad city, Afghanistan September 19, 2015.
Students in Dr. Hugh McCormick’s lower sixth politics division (year 12) sit in their classroom in Old Schools on the last day of term at Harrow School in Middlesex, Britain, June 16, 2015.
A class from the San Frantzisko public primary school pose for a picture with their teacher, Marisa Solaguren, in the Basque fishing town of Bermeo, northern Spain, September 25, 2015.
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 programme to educate underprivileged children in 1985.
Year 9 Biology boys class pose for a picture with teacher Suzanne Veitch in their classroom at Forest School, London, April 27, 2015.
Teacher Father Juan Humberto Cruz poses for pictures with 4th grade students at Semillas de Esperanza (Seeds of Hope) school in Soacha, near Bogota, Colombia, June 11, 2015.
Children of the Municipal School Nossa Senhora da Conceicao pose for a picture along the Solimoes River bank in Iranduba city, Brazil, June 17, 2015.
Class 11 Afghan girl students attend a class at Zarghona high school in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 15, 2015.
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, Ukraine, September 24, 2015.
A class at Tyburn Primary School in Chatsworth, Durban, September 15, 2015.
Class one children aged between six and seven years old pose for pictures in their classroom at Gifted Hands Educational Centre in Kenya’s Kibera slum in the capital Nairobi, September 16, 2015.

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