This article contributes to contemporary theorising in comparative education by exploring how narratives of 'victims' and 'perpetrators' in postcolonial settings are understood in terms of affective justice. "Affective justice" is introduced as a framework for understanding justice as an affective practice. Through the analysis of two examples of girls' education in the Global South -- Malala's shooting in Pakistan and the abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls in Nigeria -- the paper shows how these stories are circulated through sentimental narratives that fail to recognise long-standing colonial conceptualisations of education and schoolchildren. It is suggested that the notion of affective justice helps reorient understandings of education in postcolonial settings by turning educators' attention to three domains -- pedagogical practices, embodied affects, and emotional regimes. It is argued that a nuanced conceptualisation of affective justice offers insights into how educators and students can move beyond sentimental narratives to acknowledge coloniality and structural injustice.