Syrian authorities reopen schools

Students have returned to classrooms in Syria after the country’s new rulers ordered schools to reopen.

Pupils waited cheerfully in the courtyard of a boys’ high school in Damascus on Sunday morning and applauded as the school secretary, Raed Nasser, hung the flag adopted by the new authorities.

“Everything is good. We are fully equipped. We worked two, three days to equip the school with the needed services for the students’ safe return,” Nasser was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency, adding the Jawdat al-Hashemi school had not been damaged.

In one classroom, a student pasted the new flag on a wall.

“I am optimistic and very happy,” said student Salah al-Din Diab.

“I used to walk in the street scared that I would get drafted to military service. I used to be afraid when I reached a checkpoint.”