PISJ-ES students pay tribute to Malala Yousufzai

JEDDAH: Students of the Pakistani International School Jeddah, English Section (PISJ-ES) paid tribute to Malala Yousufzai, who was shot in an assassination attempt on Oct. 9. The school dedicated a day to acknowledge Yousufzai’s contributions and prayed for her early recovery, good health and long life.
Yousufzai is a 14-year-old youth activist who has fought to promote the schooling of girls – something that has not always been a given in her hometown of Mingora, Pakistan.
She first came into the public eye in 2009, when private schools in Pakistan’s Swat valley were ordered to close in a Taleban edict that forbade girls from attending school. From January 2003, Yousufzai kept a diary for the BBC’s Urdu service, in which she detailed how the ban affected her and her peers. Last year, she was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize, given by the Dutch organization Kids Rights, and was one of five short-listed candidates out of 98.
She was later presented with the first National Peace Award for Youth — renamed the National Malala Peace Prize in her honor — which is presented to outstanding Pakistani youth below 18 years of age.
Students of PISJ demonstrated their support and solidarity with Yousufzai through speeches, presentations, banners and posters. The themes of the day were, “Malala is a beacon of light” and “Education is the future of Pakistan.”
Students Hafsa Khan and Sohaib Khalid said Malala Yousufzai did everything in her power to make education available to women in Pakistan. She refused to give in to the pressure of the Taleban. She refused to accept their sanctions on girls’ education. She refused to believe that she did not have a chance to prove her academic valor to the world.
PISJ-ES Principal and Pakistani Senator Sehar Kamran said, “The attack on Malala was an inhuman act and it is against the teachings of Islam. We strongly condemn the attack on an innocent girl who has very rightly voiced the need for the education of her people and peace.”
She added, “Malala was not afraid of attacks or armament, she valiantly stood for her resolve and today her voice has become the voice of Pakistan. We take Malala as a beacon of light.”
“Education is the future of Pakistan, as no nation can progress without educating its children. We look forward toward a prosperous, educated, progressive Pakistan,” said Kamran.