Excerpt
JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): Finally tonight, a different take on education. It comes from Malala Yousafzai, the 17-year-old Pakistani activist who was shot in the head by the Taliban for advocating girls’ education.
She has since become an international figure. Her story has inspired children all over the world.
We invited our Student Reporting Labs to submit questions for Malala. And, when she visited New York recently, Hari Sreenivasan put them to her.
HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour): Malala Yousafzai, first, we’re going to have you listen and react to some reporter questions. Student Reporting Labs has generated these questions out in the field.
EMILY VARNADORE, York Comprehensive High School, South Carolina: Hi. My name is Emily from York Comprehensive High School. My question for you is, when do you think your battle for education for all will finally be won?
HARI SREENIVASAN: So, she says when will your battle for education for all be won? You have a simple dream. When will that be accomplished?
MALALA YOUSAFZAI, Author: When dreams do come true — and, in our history, we have seen that 100 years ago, women didn’t have the right to vote, but now they’re able to vote and they have achieved their — this right.
And long ago, people were struggling for the rights of black people, so that they can vote as well, and they are respected in society. And it’s getting better every day. And now we see that there were dreams in the past, and now they are becoming a reality. So I’m hopeful that the dreams which I have now to see every child going to school, to see equal rights for women, I think, soon, in future, if you continue the struggle, if you work hard, then I will see those dreams becoming a reality.
HARI SREENIVASAN: Here’s Jeff Love of the Philip’s Academy.
JEFFREY LOVE, Philip’s Academy Charter School, New Jersey: Malala, why did you continue to speak out for women’s education, even though you knew you could be killed?
MALALA YOUSAFZAI: It’s a very good question.
So, when I was in Swat Valley, at that time, there were more than 400 schools destroyed. And women were flogged, because we’re not allowed to go to school. And, at that time, I had really two options. One was to remain silent and wait to be killed. And then the second was to speak up and then be killed.
And I chose the second one, because I didn’t want to face the terrorism forever. And I wanted to come out of the terrible situation. And I wanted to go to school. It was my love for education that encouraged me to continue the campaign. So, I think, in hard times, we need to raise up our voice. Otherwise, we will have to live in that terrible situation forever.
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