ALEPPO, Syria  — Maryam, no more than 9 years old, sells biscuits and sweets from a cardboard stall on the pavement. I pass her almost every day on my way downtown, and occasionally stop to buy some of her cheap, inedible merchandise. She still has that impish and innocent smile that all children have, but her eyes betray a deeper sadness. They have seen what no child should ever have to see, and her little soul has endured what nothing so fragile should ever have to bear.

I asked her one day, “Are you in school?” She smiled and responded, “I am in school, but I don't go to school.” Maryam was living in a nearby school along with her family and others displaced by the fighting. That was a bitter irony for young Maryam: She was in school all the time, but not getting any education. Tragically, her case is not unique, and thousands of other children like her, both internally displaced in Syria or living in refugee camps in neighboring countries, are missing out on vital education pivotal to their mental and social development.

Education in Syria, before the war, was like everything else here: decrepit and haphazard, a contradictory mix of good and bad. On the plus side, education has always been free, right up to university and postgraduate degrees. The state would even grant scholarships for Ph.D. programs abroad to students who excelled, provided they agreed to return and put themselves to good use in state or educational institutions for a few years.

Basic education was also compulsory until high school, with school books provided free of charge, helping dramatically decrease illiteracy rates. High-school graduates in rural areas were encouraged to attend universities and offered free housing at dorms and much lower acceptance scores.