Children were back in the classroom at schools in northwest Syria on Saturday, for the first time in nearly three weeks following the devastating earthquakes which shook the region.

Footage captured in the town of Sarmada shows students and teachers participating in lessons while photographs of their deceased classmates hung from the walls.

According to local reports, as many as 421 students were killed in the earthquakes which hit northern Syria earlier in the month. Teachers say they have found it hard to step back into the classrooms.

I lost two students, Mariam Zakaria Hallak and Mohammed Zakaria Hallak. It was hard for me to enter the classroom to teach the children while they were absent. But God chose them to be birds in heaven," said Teacher Mayada Jawad.

"It was really hard for me, but I hung their photos on the classroom's wall to be with us. I loved them so dearly," she added.

According to media reports, many children were absent from the schools as their homes were still destroyed by the earthquakes and they now reside further away.

Many schools were converted into temporary shelters after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey and neighbouring areas of Syria, killing tens of thousands of people.

“Ahmed used to sit beside me in the classroom, we played together and ate together. And it makes me so sad to lose him. God rest his soul," a young student said.

On Monday, February 6, two earthquakes hit Syria and Turkey, devastating cities across the two countries. Many buildings collapsed, with Aleppo, Hama and Idlib worst affected in Syria.

At the time of publication, the combined death toll exceeded 50,000 after the devastating earthquake.