Girls’ education has been understood as an issue pendulating between the girls as a subject and their socio-economic conditions. Countries such as Pakistan have historically struggled to ensure equal access and quality of education to girls, who have been made even more vulnerable in the wake of recent crises like the 2022 floods. In the absence of adequate state support, the potentialities of community as social support need to be considered. In this paper, we seek to centre girls’ experiences of constructing the meaning of their desire for education rooted in the networks of social relations and connections, without losing sight of the structural constraints that were exacerbated after the floods. This paper asks the question: how are girls in Pakistan experiencing intersectional issues of education after the devastating 2023 floods?
This paper, focused on three flood affected villages in Pakistan, explores educational access and exclusion as a collective experience of girls and their communities. A qualitative multi-method design was utilised, including interviews and informal group-discussions with girls, male and female community members as well as experts (in education, health, and politics). The findings follow a temporal sequence, i.e., looking at the legacies of girls’ exclusion from educational opportunities pre-dating the floods, the post-flood devastation and then, the experiences and emerging potential of relationality. It is argued that such crises require appropriate support from the state and community levels, whilst also urging a deeper engagement with how girls’ aspirations for education contribute to a process of self-enrichment amidst a crisis.