A total of 3,825 school students have resumed studies after the New Year and Christmas holidays, the head of the local department for education, Ibrahim Masso, told SANA news agency on Monday. He said six more schools will be opened shortly in the eastern part of the war-ravaged city that had remained under control of militants for four years.

BEIRUT, January 9. /TASS/. Municipal authorities of Syria’s Aleppo have managed to partially repair 17 schools in eastern neighborhoods of the city destroyed by terrorists.

On January 7, the Syrian government approved a plan for a step-by-step restoration of Aleppo. The plan envisages restoring electricity, water and fuel supplies to the city. Experts will examine housing facilities stock to decide which of the dwellings are reparable.

Continuation of studies has been named as the top priority. A total of 50 schools are to be repaired in the eastern part of the city in the current school year, and about 100 educational institutions will reopen by the start of the next school year.

Five major medical centers, two hospitals and the international airport of Aleppo will resume operation at the first stage of the plan. A transportation hub will reopen once 18 kilometers of railway bed has been repaired. All this will help Aleppo residents to gradually get back to normal life.

Aleppo, which used to be Syria’s economic center before the war, had about 5,000 medium-and small-sized enterprises. According to Prime Minister Imad Khamis, "the industrial potential of the northern capital will be fully revived". He said the government "is interested in seeing Aleppo’s plants and factories restoring production as soon as possible".