Malala Yousufazai- Teacher and Heroine

 How far would you go to defend your right to an education? What would you be willing to do so that you would not be threatened for reading a book or attend school? A fourteen year old girl in Pakistan was willing to risk her life to be able to learn. Malala Yousufazai was the victim of assassination attempt by the Taliban in Peshawar Province in Pakistan. She was shot in the head last week while on a school bus for the crime of trying to teach other Pakistani girls. Her father is a former school administrator whose school had been shut down by the Taliban. Malala had been running a blog under a false identity. Yousufazai was airlifted to a hospital in Birmingham, England for long term treatment for her head injury.

You may recall the efforts of Greg Mortinsen to educate young girls in the region in his bestselling books, Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools. It has been difficult to effect a change in the thinking of the role of women and their desire to obtain an education. In additional to the cultural issues that have prevented many Muslim women from going to school, there is the political desire of the Taliban to maintain their stronghold by keeping the female population subservient and in the dark.

This is a current events news items with a message. While the American education system in not perfect and it can often be prone to politicization, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have compulsory education laws and they apply to both girls as well as boys. While the issue of the glass ceiling for women executives has been a presidential debate topic, American women are not denied the opportunity to achieve in the classroom and in the business world. The role of educated women is critical to success of a democracy and thus we as a nation must continue to encourage young women to further their education, become entrepreneurs, engage in the political process, and encourage other women to do the same. The courage of Malala has become a teachable moment where you point out to your students that in the USA the role of women is far different than the roles of women in Pakistan or other Muslim countries.  We continue to hope for her recovery and to encourage her and others like her to raise their voices to extol the virtues of an education for women and how it can serve to help their country.

c .J. Margolis 2012