Under a portrait of Sir Isaac Newton, the ninth-grade girls clasped their chemistry texts, smoothed their white head scarves and movingly voiced support for the cause of their classmate, Malala Yousafzai, shot in the head by the Taliban last week because she advocated a girl’s right to attend school.

“In our hearts is the thirst for education,” one 14-year-old told reporters brought to her classroom by the Pakistani military’s public relations wing Monday. “We want to show the world that we are not worried.”