The Influence of Malala's Story on My Understanding of Education

How Malala’s Story Has Shaped My Understanding of Education

Education is knowledge and heading to success, and it is the way to our future. People across the globe spend sleepless nights working tirelessly to achieve an education. Education lays a strong foundation for individuals to excel in their societies. Education has been around for many years and has been adopted by most of the people who stand out to be successful in our societies. Every country, be it developed, developing or undeveloped has laid down some facilities to support education. The world has become competitive, and people need enough knowledge to cope up with the challenging life. It is therefore essential for us to be educated because our future is shaped by the education we receive. In “I am Malala,” Malala Yousafzai encourages many people around the world to stand up for their rights in the Taliban by empowering women to have rights to education.

“I am Malala” is a story of a Pakistan girl from Swat Valley whose mother was illiterate because she did not have a chance to access education. Malala’s father, Ziauddin Yousafzai was a man who loved learning because he understood that besides sword and power, education is vital. Ziauddin established a school to enable children to acquire knowledge so that they can achieve their potential (Yousafzai 25). Educating girls was not supported by the Taliban who occasionally raided girl’s schools. By the time Malala reached ten years old, the Taliban had penetrated the valleys, killed policemen and held their heads on the roadside. The Taliban ordered the closure of girls’ schools which existed in Swat Valley. School bombings began as directed by Fazlullah, a young extremist who had become Radio Mullah, an arm of Taliban. The Taliban was a harsh gang which killed a teacher who refused to pull his trousers above the ankle as the gang did.

Malala Yousafzai’s struggle to ensure that women in Swat valley acquire education made her be the youngest Nobel Prize laureate. On October 9, 2012, a gunman shot her with three bullets but luckily, she did not die. A group of Muslims clerics were concerned with the incident and issued fatwa against the Taliban who attempted to kill her. Malala believe that when the whole world is silent, one voice becomes powerful. She was concerned about how it is easy to give guns but hard to provide children with books. Also, Malala believed that one has to be brave and not afraid when achieving education and doing so is not a crime.

Having brought up in a society which has no significant focus on education, I did not take education seriously. In our society, education is believed to essential only for boy-child. Women in our society are not well learned because they are supposed to get married earlier and start raising children. I thought that education is not essential in someone’s life and people can still excel without it. In some circumstances, people who have little knowledge have come up to be successful in the society, but that is not always the case. The number of people who have excelled in education is much higher than those who did not embrace it.

Some people in our society also view education as a waste of resources and time. With the increased demand for education, acquiring it is becoming more expensive from time to time. Some parents decide to start businesses for their children or even look for unskilled jobs for them because they think that it takes longer to learn. Some parents do not educate their girls because they feel that it will be not beneficial to them once they get married elsewhere.

Education should be provided for all the children regardless of gender and social status. Educating female children in Swat Valley was seen as an illegal act by the Taliban who shut up girls’ schools and left boy’s schools functional as normal. Some upright figures in the society who understood the need for educating all the children did not give up. Malala’s father embraced that girls have the same potential as boys and is against the Islam to deny them the education.

Education empowers people in the society. From the perspective of Malala’s story, it is through her struggle to achieve knowledge that has made her courageous when dealing with any obstacle in the society. She feels that having enough education will enable her to become a high political figure in future. Her struggle to be educated has helped her to receive respect from different people around the world. Just like Malala, women around the world should not feel ashamed of competing with their male counterparts in acquiring knowledge. Women should see education as a chance for them to be empowered and face the challenges that may come in their lives.

Education is a unifying tool in the society. Through knowledge, it is possible for a society to exist in unity. Malala’s believes that one day Swat Valley will still go back to the peace it enjoyed before. Educated people understand how to mitigate disagreements when they arise better than those with no education. I believe that a society whose principles are based on education has little intentions of causing disharmony for its people.

Even though many countries are trying to provide cheaper education, it is not easy for people to access it because of social and cultural reasons. Some cultures still do not support educating women to higher levels. Also, the quality of education they provide to the women is lower than that provided to men counterparts.

In conclusion, Malala’s memoir has reshaped my understanding of education. I have found that education is vital for all the children and the people at large. Through education, people can stand up and take part in the development of their countries. Educating women will do away with the many societies’ belief that the only place women can excel is in the kitchen. Women are becoming great figures in our society in the 21st century, and their success can be drawn back to their effortless struggle to learn. The society’s decision on not educating women should be stopped by educating them the need for knowledge in the society.