By Theresa Tan and Amelia Tan

AMNI Khairiyah, 7, missed three weeks of school this year because her mum couldn't afford the $80 monthly school bus fare.

Her divorcee mother, Kalsom Bee Mahmood, 40, earns $1,200 a month and is struggling to make ends meet as a large chunk of her take-home pay goes toward paying for rental of a room.

The library assistant is now trying to transfer Amni to a school nearer the child-care centre the girl attends, so that her daughter can walk to school.

Read the full report in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.

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