Malala says Pakistan’s educated youth can help drive the country forward

LONDON: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has expressed confidence in Pakistan’s future, saying the country’s educated young people have the passion and commitment needed to help move it ahead through learning and modern knowledge.

She made the remarks while speaking to Geo News in central London after attending a round-table discussion with a group of influential Pakistanis on ways to improve education standards in Pakistan. Malala said she would continue working to strengthen her country of origin through education, particularly by focusing on girls’ access to learning.

In her conversation with Geo News, Malala highlighted the importance of education, technological advancement and women’s participation in national progress.

“We all love Pakistan. All of us want progress and stability of Pakistan, based on education and latest technological knowledge to take Pakistan forward. The role of women in this journey is of utmost importance. It’s always heartening to see so many educated and young Pakistanis determined for the progress of Pakistan. A country with such passionate and dedicated segment always prospers.”

London gathering on education and innovation

The London event was organised by Hamza Chishti, director of Cloud and AI innovation at Microsoft in New York, in collaboration with the Malala Fund. It brought together creators and influencers for a brunch focused on innovation, education and ideas for Pakistan’s future.

Explaining the purpose of the gathering, Chishti said it was intended to bring together leading Pakistani minds to discuss how to build a better future through innovation and education.

“The idea was to put all top minds of the country together to talk about innovation, education and building better together for Pakistan. Being leaders of now and future, we want to empower every Pakistani to provide them access to education and hoping to shape the narrative of Pakistan as great as Pakistani people.”

Those present at the luncheon with Malala included Sana Rahman, Maham Ali, Zeba Qureshi, Ramsha Ali, Shanzay Shiekh, Saba Azam, Zara Lashari, Harris Saeed, Abdullah Abubaker, Momin Saqib, Zahra Khan, Kashaf Ali, Pashma Abbas, Mohsin Naveed Ranjha, Mahnoor Omar, Emilie Yam, Nishat Riaz, chief executive of Malala Fund Pakistan, Hiba Siddiqui, and Muhammad Ali.

Address at Education World Forum

Before the luncheon, Malala opened the UK government’s Education World Forum in London alongside Secretary of State for Education Bridget Phillipson. Education ministers from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were among the participants, along with hundreds of delegates from around the world.

At the conference, Malala spoke about the condition of girls’ education in Palestine, Lebanon and Afghanistan, drawing attention to the barriers many girls continue to face in conflict-affected and restrictive environments.

“When I spoke to Palestinian girls from this school earlier this month, their biggest concern was their upcoming exams. How can they continue their education if they can’t even reach their classroom? Girls understand the problems — but they also have solutions. In Nigeria, where one in three girls is married before her 18th birthday, girls told me that we needed to fight early marriage. But, at the same time, they wanted government policies that allowed married and pregnant girls to go back to the classroom — a pathway to continue their education without stigma or shame.

In Palestine, seven-year-old girls organise protests for their right to education. Nowhere is their determination more courageous and vital than in Afghanistan, where girls are banned from school past sixth grade under the Taliban’s brutal regime of gender apartheid. Across the country today, they are listening to lessons on the radio, discretely passing cassette tapes and books to each other and trying to keep studying in secret.”

Reference to Shangla girls’ school

Malala also referred to a girls’ school she decided to build in her mother’s village in Pakistan, saying she had faced doubts over whether such a project could succeed in a remote area. She told the conference that concerns had been raised about construction, teacher availability and whether local families would allow girls to attend.

“My mother grew up in a village in Pakistan that had never had a secondary school for girls. When I decided to build one, people were quick to tell me why it couldn’t be done. They said construction was impossible in such a remote area. That qualified teachers wouldn’t want to work there. That local social norms meant fathers wouldn’t allow their daughters to attend school even if there was one. I didn’t let that stop me — and today the Shangla Girls School has 1,050 students. The high school girls have scored some of the top marks in the province on their standardised exams.”

Her remarks in London combined a message of optimism about Pakistan’s youth with a broader appeal for sustained investment in education, especially for girls, as a foundation for progress and stability.