Education transforms lives: I Should Know

This blog was written for - and published by - The Office of the UN Special Envoy for Global Education (https://educationenvoy.org/) in Oct 2012, days after the attack on Malala Yousufzai

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Education transforms lives. As the son of a father who walked three miles to school each way, and through his efforts, gave my siblings and I lives full of limitless opportunities, I know this lesson first-hand. Growing up in rural Pakistan, the vision that inspired my father every day was to treat people, to save them for the early death that has visited his own mother. When an antiquated education system stood in his way, he chose his dream over community and family, traveling abroad to study and become a doctor.

Back home, his siblings continued to face the same challenges that thousands in developing countries face today. His sisters were never schooled, and in turn, never supported their own children’s educational ambitions. Three years ago, my first cousin, who, with little educational opportunities available to him had made his living as a labourer at a chemical factory, died of asbestos poisoning, developed over 20 years of working there. He was 37 years old.

Nearly a decade of living and working in Africa, while leading Microsoft’s education-focused work, leads me to believe that not much has changed. Thousands of children eager to learn and educate themselves are denied that opportunity every day; UNESCO estimates there are still 61 million children of school going age not at school. Even for those at school, the dream of a better life still forces many to leave their homelands. I dream of the day when schools within our communities become the springboards of hopes and dreams for our next generations.

My work at Microsoft gave me the opportunity to travel widely and broadly within the Middle East and Africa region. The work I undertook with the Ministries of Education was focused on leveraging all available resources in their drive for quality universal education. In every country though, I was struck by the gender imbalance of the classes, school and colleges I visited. The female children were conspicuous by their absence; their countries seemed to be leaving the girl-child behind.

In many respects, it is the little girls of today that we need in the schools the most. As the mothers of tomorrow, they will nurture and mould the values, personalities and beliefs of our coming generations. In countries that have encouraged gender-parity in their educational policies, or at least have not actively discriminated against girls, we see women playing active roles leading industry, government and the civil sector. Entering a critical phase of economic history, we just cannot hope to succeed by ignoring the potential, creativity and intelligence inherent within fifty percent of our human race.

As a father of two young, bright girls, I have a vested interest in ensuring that girls get access to the best educational opportunities. I am pleased to see Gordon Brown, in his capacity as the UN Education Envoy take up the issue of universal access to schooling, irrespective of gender or disability. It seems the Education First initiative by the UN is our best – and maybe last - chance of the nurturing and supporting each child’s dream, within his/her own community, irrespective of gender, race or age. I don’t think we can wait any longer.

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About: Rizwan Tufail is the Founder of Innovonomics, a niche consulting firm focused on consulting, policy-input, programs and ventures that leverage innovation for economic and social transformation. He was a Mason Fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School, and was previously the Regional Director for Africa for Microsoft, having also served as Microsoft's Regional Education Lead for Middle East and Africa prior to that. You can follow him on twitter at @rtufail and on LinkedIn