Most of us have a clear image of what a classroom looks like. There are desks, a board, maybe some computers and plenty of eager young minds. However, how much do we know about what it's really like to go to school in countries such as Afghanistan or the Congo? Take a tour of the different education settings for children around the world.
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Porac, Pampanga, Philippines
Students at the Camias Resettlement School learn the dying Atya language. The Philippines are unique in that significantly more girls attend secondary school than boys, according to UNICEF.
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Moscow, Russia
Russian parents take pictures to remember their children's first day of school. Their 97 percent enrollment is impressive. Meanwhile, there is an alarming rise in school notebooks depicting Josef Stalin.
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Dushanbe, Tajikistan
The winter weather in Tajikistan is brutal and often makes it difficult for kids to get to school. UNICEF has stepped in and helped over 63,000 children in 320 schools attend class in the winter months. Despite being Central Asia's poorest nation, the literacy rate among youth is high.
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Vaasa, Finland
Despite not starting school until age six or seven, students in Finland rank first in the world in both math and science.
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Rajasthan, India
Children from the Narlai village try to find a comfortable way to sit on the floor. According to UNICEF, there is a large gap in India's literacy rate between teenage boys (88 percent) and teenage girls (74 percent).
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Berlin, Germany
German students sit quietly and listen to a lesson from their teacher. At age 16, a student may choose to become an apprentice in a job in which he/she has interest.
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Gangania, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Refugees gather in this makeshift classroom in the north of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Decades of war in the Congo have displaced millions, making education a luxury. According to the aid organization OXFAM, the Congo is ranked in the bottom 10 countries worldwide on the Human Development Index and the ongoing conflict has created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
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Santiago, Chile
Chilean children learn in a creative schoolbus-turned-classroom. Despite high enrollment numbers for primary school, only half of Chilean students have pre-school preparation.
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Dixon Creek, Victoria, Australia
Australian children make thank you posters at Dixon Creek Primary School. Though they have high enrollment in primary school, only 34 percent of adults have bachelor's degrees. Australia's goal is for 40 percent of the youth population to have at least a bachelor's degree by 2025.
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Kabul, Afghanistan
These girls attend a previously all boys school in Kabul. Despite being overthrown, the Taliban has resorted to poisoning schoolgirls to deter them from attending. The CIA reports that 28 percent of the population is literate, with only 12 percent of women being able to read.
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Tokyo, Japan
A teacher helps a student with math at Koran High School in Tokyo. Japan boasts 98 percent of its population attending secondary school.
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Arlington, Virginia, United States of America
Kindergarteners at Jamestown Elementary learn on iPads. Despite our high literacy rates and incorporation of technology in education, only 32 percent of U.S. students are proficient in math.
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Istanbul, Turkey
Students in Istanbul eagerly raise their hands in hopes of being called on. Turkey has high attendance for primary school, yet only 60 percent of students make it to secondary school.
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Angers, France
Students at Isoret Elementary have a five-day school week. Since 2008, the standard school week in French elementary schools has been four days. Wednesdays are typically considered a day to rest or do cultural activities.
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Kilifi, Kenya
A schoolgirl participates in a lesson in Kilifi, approximately 50 kilometers northeast of Mombasa, Kenya. An initiative called Moving the Goalspost has sponsored female students from the Kilifi district, where dropout rates are due to early marriages, teen pregnancy and a traditional bias towards educating male siblings over females.
