On weekday mornings, Lucky Khatun makes a five-kilometre journey on an electric three-wheeler from her village to college in Jashore town where she studies social welfare. A poor sharecropper's daughter, she will complete her master's this year and then will look for a job.

Her two younger brothers, however, have never entered any classroom, not even a school's. Their father, Anwarul Islam, was just too poor to afford it.

But Lucky was really lucky because the government made education free for girls in phases. She got free books and meals, and even a monthly stipend that was sent to her account through mobile banking system.