Extraordinary Lives:
Malala Yousafzai
Early Years
Malala Yousafzai was born in Mingora, Pakistan
on 12 July 1997. Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai,
was determined to give her every opportunity
a boy would have. He was a teacher and ran a
girls’ school in the village. Malala’s mother, Toor
Pekai, was a homemaker raising three children.
Her family is Sunni Muslim.
Malala loved going to school. She was happy,
and looking forward to a bright future, but
everything changed when the Taliban took
control of her town in Swat Valley in 2008
during a resurgence of anti-Western feeling
following the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the
invasion of Afghanistan. Many things were
banned, such as owning a television and
playing music. At the end of 2008, the local
Taliban leader, Mullah Fazlullah, declared
that all female education must cease within a
month, or there would be dire consequences.
Despite the risks, Malala’s brave father
didn’t close the girls’ school he had founded,
although most parents stopped sending their
children there following the Taliban warning.
Malala and some of her classmates continued
Malala Yousafzai by Southbank Centre is licensed under CC BY 2.0 – (Cropped)
to go in secret. They had to take precautions,
such as no longer wearing their uniforms and
concealing their books under their clothes.
Malala recalled: ‘’I remember how my Mom
would put a ladder at the back of our house so
that if anything happened we could escape… I
felt fear when I went to school.’
You may wonder why Malala risked her life to go
to school. She explains that: ‘For my brothers it
was easy to think about the future… They can be
anything they want. But for me it was hard and
for that reason I wanted to become educated
and empower myself with knowledge.’
Taliban Attack
In 2012, a journalist from BBC Urdu asked
Malala’s father if he knew any young people
willing to talk to him about life under the
Taliban. He suggested his daughter, who wrote
a BBC blog, Diary of a Pakistani Schoolgirl, which
outlined her hope that she could keep being
educated. Malala took the opportunity to speak
up for her rights, despite it being a risky time
for anyone who spoke out against the Taliban.
Sadly, speaking out publicly made her a target
even though she was just a child.
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On the afternoon of 9 October 2012, Malala
boarded the small school bus as usual for her
journey home. The road seemed to be deserted
as it went along its usual route. Moments later,
two young men brought the bus to a stop just
a hundred yards from the school gates. One
asked: ‘Who is Malala?’
She was shot in the left side of her head by the
Taliban terrorists, simply for going to school.
Two other girls were also shot but Malala’s
wounds were severe and she was airlifted from
one military hospital in Pakistan to another.
Later, she was flown to the UK for treatment,
waking up ten days later in a Birmingham
hospital where medical staff told her about the
attack. Malala lost her hearing in her left ear
and now uses cochlear implants.
Malala was unable to return to Pakistan after
her recovery because the Taliban threatened to
target her again if she survived. So she moved
to Britain, setting up the Malala Fund with her
father so that she could campaign for girls’ rights
to education around the world from there. Malala
Fund invests in developing country educators
and activists, and holding leaders accountable for
their promises to girls. Malala is determined to
keep going until every girl is able to go to school.
She has said: ‘I could live a quiet life or I could
make the most of this new life I had been given.’
United Nations, New York
Following her recovery, Malala began to
campaign internationally for change, travelling
all over the world to educate political leaders
on the importance of education for girls.
In 2013, on her 16th birthday, Malala addressed
an audience of hundreds of children from
around the world, youth leaders and United
Nations members, including the Secretary-
General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon.
Unbelievably, she told them she did not hate
the Taliban for shooting her because she had
learnt compassion from Muhammad and
forgiveness from her parents. She also spoke
about being inspired to instigate change by key
human rights activists like Martin Luther King
and Nelson Mandela.
‘They thought that the bullets
would silence us. But they failed.’
Malala spoke about the exploitation of India’s
children through child labour, the extremism
in Afghanistan, and the schools destroyed
in Nigeria by the militant Islamist group
Boko Haram, which is attempting to create
a ‘pure’ Islamic state ruled by Sharia law.
Malala highlighted how they burned schools
and attacked students and teachers, with a
devastating impact on education. The conflict
has left nearly one million children with little or
no access to school.
‘Let us pick up our books and pens.
They are our most powerful weapons.’
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Nobel Peace Prize
At Oslo City Hall, Norway, in recognition of her
dedicated work through Malala Fund, Malala
Yousafzai received the Nobel Peace Prize for
her education advocacy in December 2014,
becoming the youngest ever recipient at just
17-years-old. She shared the honour with India’s
prominent social activist, Kailash Satyarthi.
Malala thanked her father for ‘not clipping my
wings and for letting me fly’. She also thanked
her mother for teaching her to always speak
the truth. Her teachers also received a mention,
for inspiring her to believe in herself.
‘This award is not just for me.
It is for those forgotten children
who want education. It is for those
frightened children who want peace.
It is for those voiceless children
who want change.’
Speech to Canadian Parliament
In a 2017 speech, Malala described how life
used to be for her and her family in Pakistan.
She told of bombs that would wake her up
at night. Each morning, she would hear that
more innocent people had been killed and
would witness men with guns in the street
on a daily basis. Malala was very sad that this
had happened to her country and thought
she would have to be an adult in order to
lead people to change. She told the Canadian
Parliament: ‘I’ve learned that even a child’s
voice can be heard around the world.’
Always with girls’ education in mind, Malala told
her audience: ‘Young women of Canada, step
forward and raise your voices. The next time I
visit, I hope I see more of you filling these seats
in Parliament.’ She also encouraged the men
of Canada to be proud feminists and to help
women achieve equal opportunities.
Higher Education
In 2018, Malala began studying Philosophy,
Politics and Economics at the University of
Oxford. Considering she was once shot just for
going to school, this was a momentous day.
It was here that she met her future husband,
Asser Malik, who had a shared love of cricket.
The pair married in November 2021. Malala
has said she will always cherish her time at
Lady Margaret Hall. She enjoyed the lectures,
club meetings and balls. Although a global
pandemic meant she had to spend the final
months as a student at her parents’ house, she
is so grateful to have been able to complete
her education. She emerged after graduation
even more determined to fight for girls.
G7 Education and Development
Ministers Meeting, France
In 2017, Malala addressed ministers on the
topic of girls’ education, giving them key
statistics and appealing for change. She opened
the speech by describing her A level studies of
the French Revolution and how her education
of this had sparked her interest in historical
buildings such as the one she was stood in.
Malala reminded leaders that girls everywhere
still had faith that world leaders would help
them. Malala’s focus was the Sahel region of
sub-Saharan Africa, where 75% of girls start
school yet only 8% finish secondary education.
The rest of them, she told the assembly, would
face early child marriage or an early and
uncertain working life.
‘Educating girls is the single best investment
leaders can make in our world’s future…
I’m asking leaders to commit new money to
education for girls.’
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Continuing Campaigns
In August 2012, when the Taliban seized power,
they promised to continue to allow access
to education for girls and women. However,
shortly after they took control of Afghanistan,
the Taliban announced a ban on women
attending private and public universities in
Afghanistan. This was in opposition to the
fundamental human rights of Afghan women
and girls and the Malala Fund strongly and
publicly condemned the ban.
The United Nations hosted the Transforming Going Forward
When severe flooding hit Pakistan in September
Education Summit (TES) on 19 September Malala now lives in London with her husband,
2022, Malala and her father paid a visit to the
2022 in New York City. Disappointingly, the Asser Malik, with whom she continues to
affected regions, despite the potential risk
U.N. only added a gender spotlight session campaign actively for equal opportunities for girls.
to their safety. Malala Fund called for urgent
at the last minute and many activists could In 2021, she signed a multi-year deal with
action to ensure impacted students received
not secure travel visas in time. With many Apple TV+ to collaborate with the streaming
the support and resources they needed
heads of state and ministers absent, girls company on dramas, comedies, documentaries
to return to school. Malala’s father added:
had few opportunities to challenge leaders and animated series via her production banner,
‘Without urgent action to undo the devastation
directly. Malala told the General Assembly: Extracurricular, bringing girls’ stories to the
caused by these floods, the education of 12
‘If you are serious about creating a safe, television screen.
million more children is at risk.’
sustainable future for all children, then be
That same month, Lucia Fry, Malala Fund’s The website of the Malala Fund reads: ‘I tell my
serious about education.’
Director of Research and Policy, announced story not because it is unique, but because it
that, according to current rates of progress is the story of many girls.’ Malala asks for our
‘How long will you make girls
estimated by the World Economic Forum, the help in her fight for education and equality
wait for what you promised?’
world is still 100 years away from offering 12 because there is more work to be done.
years of quality education for all girls and boys. ‘Together, we can create a world where all girls
can learn and lead.’

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 What do the following words from the article mean?

Vocabulary
Can you work out their meaning from their context within the article?
Use a dictionary if you need to.
Use a dictionary or the internet to write a definition for each word below

accountable

cochlear

emerged

exploitation

fundamental

graduation

momentous

prominent

Extraordinary Lives: Malala Yousafzai Vocabulary

resurgence
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Sharia
Extraordinary Lives: Malala Yousafzai
Comprehension Questions
1. When and where was Malala born?

2. What did her father run in Pakistan?

3. What did Malala and her father do when the Taliban banned education for girls in 2008?

4. What did Malala write that made her a Taliban target?

5. What happened on the afternoon of 9 October 2012?

6. Why couldn’t Malala return to Pakistan once she had recovered?

7. What did she form with her father so that she could campaign for girls’ rights to education?
What are its aims?

8. What or who has inspired Malala to forgive her attackers and to try to instigate change?

9. In your own words, explain what led to Malala receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.

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 Extraordinary Lives: Malala Yousafzai Comprehension Questions

10. In what ways was Malala’s attendance at Oxford University significant?

11. In what ways did the United Nations Summit in 2022 let Malala and other campaigners
for girls’ equality down?

12. How is Malala continuing to keep the issue of girls’ education in the public eye?

Extension
Which is your favourite Malala Yousafzai quote and why?

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 Research Task
Use the internet and select an extraordinary person who you believe is
making a difference in the world by giving back to their community.
Then:
• write a short extract on their early life;
• describe what they do which makes them unique;
• mention any awards they may have received;
• how has society benefitted from what they do;
• any other interesting fact
Finally, state your final opinion based upon the above.