Nine-year-old Abkar Mohammed works cleaning and polishing shoes on the streets of Port Sudan every day. He arrived in the eastern Sudanese city with his mother and three siblings from Khartoum days after the country’s armed conflict erupted on April ۱۵, ۲۰۲۳.
Abkar lost his father before the war began and the family live in a rented a home in al-Kasara, a low-income neighbourhood in Port Sudan.
Due to the family’s financial situation, he doesn’t go to school but does attend classes at a traditional “khalwa” where he learns the Quran.
“When my lesson finishes, I pick up my shoe-cleaning equipment and head to busy areas to work,” he told Al Jazeera. “In the evening, I take public transport home, making sure I get back before sunset.”
He gets around ۱,۰۰۰ Sudanese pounds ($۰.۱۱) to clean or stitch a pair of shoes, and by the end of the day, he earns around ۱۰,۰۰۰ pounds ($۱.۰۸). He gives the money to his mother to cover the family’s daily needs.
“My ۲۳-year-old brother works on casual jobs in the markets to cover most of the household expenses,” he said.
Abkar’s story echoes the lives of eight million of the country’s ۱۷ million school-age children who are out of school, according to UNICEF.
In Darfur, one of the areas of Sudan hardest hit by the war, about ۸۰ percent of schools remained closed with ۷۰ percent of children in the area not attending classes.
Save the Children estimates that children in Sudan have missed on average about ۴۸۴ days of classroom learning since the war began in April ۲۰۲۳, due to prolonged school closures, fighting, displacement and damage to education facilities.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been in conflict with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) since ۲۰۲۳, has been accused of targeting schools and universities in drone strikes, along with other civilian infrastructure.
In September ۲۰۲۶, a drone attack on two warehouses in North Kordofan destroyed more than ۳۳۰,۰۰۰ school textbooks and other learning materials.
Sulaima Ishag, head of the Government Advisory Council for Women and Children, told Al Jazeera that children who live in conflict zones, such as Darfur and parts of Kordofan, are at greatest risk of permanently losing access to education. This can have a dire impact on their future, particularly for girls.
“[There are] cases of school dropouts and child marriage reported, alongside sexual violence. [Girls] face additional risks, including adolescent pregnancy and increased domestic responsibilities, which can further limit their chances of returning to education,” Sulaima told Al Jazeera.
“The absence of schools as safe and protective environments leaves children increasingly vulnerable to a range of threats, including child labour, early marriage, recruitment and use by armed groups, exploitation, sexual violence, trafficking and family separation. It also takes a significant psychological and social toll on children … [particularly those] from the poorest families … even in areas considered relatively safe.”
Eva Hinds, UNICEF’s head of advocacy and communication in Sudan, said that nearly half of all school buildings in the country no longer function as classrooms, due to war damage.
“Displaced children, many of whom have been forced to flee several times, face additional barriers, as repeated displacement disrupts their learning and separates them from teachers and classmates, often leaving them without learning materials or a safe place to study,” Hinds told Al Jazeera.
Children who no longer attend school lose access to a safe space and are exposed to the risks associated with child labour, recruitment by armed groups, and other abuses.
Hinds warned that the longer children remain out of school, the harder it will become for them to make up for lost learning. This disruption can deepen existing inequalities and mean that a generation of Sudanese children and young people will be unable to contribute to the country’s future peace, recovery and development.
“The conflict in Sudan continues to have a devastating impact on children’s education. The consequences extend far beyond the classroom,” said Hinds.
Psychologist Hanaa Mohamed told Al Jazeera that prolonged displacement and interruptions to schooling have taken a significant psychological toll on children. Many are in a constant state of fear, experience sleep disturbances and have difficulty focusing.
“These pressures have also led to changes in behaviour, including increased aggression or social withdrawal,” she told Al Jazeera. “Being out of school deprives children of an important protective environment. The absence of that protection has also helped bring cases of violence and sexual exploitation against children to light.”
Sudan’s economy has been set back ۳۰ years by the war, with ۶۰ percent of Sudanese now living in poverty.
Families fleeing the conflict often enter new towns or camps where they have few social connections and sometimes are just carrying the clothes on their backs. Sudan’s dire financial situation means that there are few jobs available for adults, forcing parents to turn to their children for essential income.
Saliha Omer, who sells tea on a street in Port Sudan, said her meagre finances prevented her from enrolling her ۱۱-year-old son in school.
He currently works at a grocery shop in Port Sudan, but Saliha plans to return to Khartoum in the coming days so he can attend school.
“I couldn’t enrol him because of our financial circumstances after we were displaced,” Saliha told Al Jazeera.
Mahmoud al-Ghali, ۱۶, has not been to school since the war broke out when he was aged ۱۳, and has been displaced several times during the war.
For the past three years he has sold sweets and crisps on the streets of Port Sudan to provide his family with extra income.
Mahmoud remembers his final days at school, when he and his classmates sat their end-of-year exams. They were preparing for intermediate school and a new chapter in their lives, but the war changed their plans.
“After reaching Al-Fao in December ۲۰۲۳, I worked as a street vendor until I managed to save some money. Then I came to Port Sudan with my uncle in July ۲۰۲۵, hoping to earn more so I could help my family with household expenses,” he told Al Jazeera.
Mahmoud buys packets of crisps or sweets from local shopkeepers and sells them on the streets. At the end of the day, he pays the trader back for the goods he bought and keeps the small profit of around ۲۰,۰۰۰ Sudanese pounds, less than $۳ a day.
This hand-to-mouth existence and the constant financial pressure on his family, worsened by rising cost of living, means he also has little hope of returning to school.
But his two younger brothers have now returned to classes in their village in Gaziera State after the SAF regained control of the area. Mahmoud hopes to save enough money to expand his small trading business.
“I’ve got used to working because circumstances have left me with little choice,” he said. “I no longer feel as strongly about going back to school as I once did, but I’ll keep trying so my younger brothers can finish their education.”
