Surkhet, June 26 -- Sangita Bayak of ward 5 in Chaukune Rural Municipality in Surkhet district, studies in Grade 5 at a community school. Her younger sisters, 10-year-old Tulsi and eight-year-old Rabina, are also in school.

Their childhood, however, has been marked by hardship from an early age. Their father died when they were young, and their mother later remarried, leaving the three sisters behind. They are now being raised by their aunt, Pushpa Bayak.

Although Pushpa managed to provide them with food and shelter, she constantly worried about whether she could afford to keep all three girls in school.

"I used to wonder how I would raise them and pay for their education," she said. "The municipality's special programme for girls has ...