Six months after the brutal conflict began, Jaafar Abbakar’s four children are among 19 million Sudanese students who are out of school. The war between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has caused more than 10,000 schools in the country to close, including the capital Khartoum and its twin city Omdurman.

Approximately 170 schools are serving as emergency shelters for people displaced by the fighting, including Mr Abbakar and his family.

But even if schools were to reopen, his children are not ready to go back, he says.

“It is difficult because of psychological reasons. Under such situations, a person cannot go to school. There are no promising signs that the war will end.”

Abbakar, who fled Umbada near Omdurman to eastern Gedaref state, keeps his children occupied in their new home, which he hopes will be temporary.

” While we can’t do much to help, we do what we can to help, but it’s not sustainable.

“We review with them at home and redirect their attention to the academic year so they forget the effects of the war for a while.”

Eram, his 15-year-old daughter, is at stake for more than schoolwork. She says she desperately misses her school friends: “After we separated, there was no communication between us.”