In pictures: The 70-year-old going back to school in Syria's Idlib

Abdul Karim al-Bakri, a 70-year-old man from the village of Tamanah, in Syria's Hama province, was forced north 10 years ago by Syria's ongoing conflict.

Now living with his wife and four of his eight children in the rebel-held Idlib province, Bakri has decided to go back to university to finally get a degree.

Over 40 years ago, Bakri left university to look after his father and never returned.

"After we were displaced and lost our lands and possessions... I had free time and was bored, and because I loved studying, I began to ask about registering at university," he told Middle East Eye.

He enrolled in the history department at the University of Idlib.

"When the students saw me sitting with them at their desks, me being the age of their grandfathers, they were stunned," Bakri told MEE. "They started asking me: 'Are you a doctor at the university?'... I told them: 'I am a student like you.'"

The war has taken a drastic toll on education opportunities in Syria, which is also suffering from an economic crisis amid the Covid-19 pandemic. More than 7,000 schools have been damaged or destroyed in the decade-long conflict, according to UNICEF.

"When I sat in the seat for the first time, I forgot that I was old and thought that I had gone back in time to the years that passed me by," Bakri told MEE, adding that he hopes to go on to do a master's degree and a doctorate.

Professor Iyad Salat told MEE that Bakri is one of the university's top students, saying he got over 90 percent in a course on Roman history last year.

Ahmed Haj Ahmed, another student in the history department, told MEE that after initially being surprised by Bakri attending class, "we got used to his presence and treated him with respect, and we began to take our interest in studying from him."

Many students who were thinking of dropping out continued and completed their studies after hearing Bakri's story, he added.