Lacking buildings, a school on the outskirts of Kabul, the capital, holds classes in a series of tents.  (Rick Loomis / LAT)

Schoolboys practice a song celebrating ethnic unity that they were to perform at the opening of a new power station in Kabul.  (Rick Loomis / LAT)

Boys attend class inside the charred remains of a room at a school in Ghazni province. A Taliban bomb at the school failed to explode but ignited a fire that destroyed part of the school and most of its books.  (Rick Loomis / LAT)

A few tent poles are among all that remain after arson destroyed most of a school on the edge of Kabul.  (Rick Loomis / LAT)

Afghan girls have returned to school since the Taliban was ousted in late 2001, but its guerrillas employ violence to discourage their education.  (Rick Loomis / LAT)

Masouda Khuram teaches fourth-grade girls in a tent classroom in Kabul.  (Rick Loomis / LAT)

Girls sit in class at a school in Ghazni province that was the target of a Taliban attack.  (Rick Loomis / LAT)

Schoolgirls in Kabul gather water from a puddle to be used to erase chalkboards and clean desks.  (Rick Loomis / LAT)

Schools without buildings hold classes in tents. Some Afghan schools lack even tents, and so teach their students outdoors.  (Rick Loomis / LAT)