Chitwan, May 17 -- Ayushma Chepang, 11, who has completed Grade 5, has been forced to repeat the same class due to family responsibilities and the lack of a nearby higher school in her rural settlement of Kamalpur in ward 29 of Bharatpur Metropolitan City.

Ayushma is among four students currently studying in Grade 5 at the National Basic School in Kamalpur, which has classes only up to 5.

Although she has already passed the grade, she has had to remain in the same class. A secondary school offering education up to Grade 10 exists in Chaukidanda, but it is more than two hours away on foot through a forest trail that involves steep uphill and downhill walks, making daily travel unsafe and impractical for her.

"She could not be sent there...