Yesterday, Malala went back to school.
For girls in many countries — for instance, Canada or the United States — that statement would not be very startling.
But Malala Yousafzai is a 15-year-old Pakistani girl who was attacked for trying to get an education, and for speaking up for other girls who wanted an education.
She became known around the world as a hero for her courage in fighting for the rights of girls in Pakistan.
In Pakistan, a militant and terrorist group known as the Taliban believes that girls should not be educated. In 2009 they issued a ban that said girls are not allowed to go to school. Last October, when Malala was travelling to school, members of the Taliban attacked and seriously injured her. She was taken to a hospital in Britain, where doctors saved her life.
It has been a long road back to recovery for Malala, but yesterday she went back to school, this time in England.
Her father walked her to her first day at Edgbaston High School for Girls in Birmingham.
She said it was the most important day of her life.
She is happy to be back in school. She wants every girl to have the right to an education.
Because of her courage in the face of great opposition, Malala was nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
People around the world have been inspired by her spirit and her courage.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Kathleen Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
Malala wants all girls in the world to have the opportunity to go to school.
Reflect on your own community. Do all people in your community have equal access to education?
If yes – how might your life (or the life of your family) be different if girls did not have the right to an education?
If no – what changes need to happen in order for all people to have equal access to education?
Reading Prompt: Extending Understanding
Malala’s story teaches us that one person can make a big difference. In your own words, explain how Malala has made a difference in the world.
Can you think of other individuals who have impacted their communities? What did they do and how did they do it?
Junior
Extend understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6).
Intermediate
Extend understanding of texts, including increasingly complex or difficult texts, by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6).
Grammar Feature: Adjectives
The article describes Malala as courageous and heroic. What other adjectives would you use to describe Malala?
