The story in Zerina's home village of Pakkho is different only because the local community has taken it into its own hands to provide its children with education. In the mornings, Zerina is one of 150 bouncy students crowded into a small open space part covered with a makeshift wooden roof. There is little shade here during the unbearably hot summers. There are no toilets, drinking water or electricity. The community makes the space available.
Most parents like to send their daughters here.
The Pakkho school gives the lie to the argument that poverty is the main explanation for the gender gap. This is unmistakably a poor farming area yet despite the ramshackle condition of the school, it is well attended and has the community's support. It has functioning latrines, running water, desks and teaching materials. We travel for two hours to get here and back every day just to face empty desks,' says Shahida Mehmood, one of the Laiqpur teachers. Powerful landowners and politicians in Pakistan have their own ways of getting schools built in their home communities regardless of need.