Nepali woman's quest to learn takes her back to school with son

Parwati Sunar, 27, sings the national anthem of Nepal while attending an assembly at Jeevan Jyoti secondary school in Punarbas, Kanchanpur district, southwest Nepal, August 7, 2022. Parwati attends the same school as her eldest son, Resham, after returning to an education system she fled at the age of 15, when she eloped with a man seven years her senior. Parwaiti said she hoped to become "literate enough"?to be able to keep household accounts. "I think I should not have left my school," she said, explaining the desire to catch up on the lessons she missed. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - A Nepali mother of two, Parwati Sunar finds herself attending the same school as her son after returning to an education system she fled at the age of 15, when she eloped with a man seven years her senior.

"I enjoy learning and am proud to attend with classmates who are like my own children," Sunar told Reuters from her village of Punarbas on the southwestern edge of the Himalayan nation, where she studies in seventh grade.