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Malala, Pakistani Teen Shot For Demanding An Education, Heads To School In U.K.

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban, attends her first day of school on Tuesday just weeks after being released from the hospital.
Malala Press Office
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AP
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban, attends her first day of school on Tuesday just weeks after being released from the hospital.

Some terrific news today:Malala Yousafzai's story has come full circle. If you remember, the Pakistani teenager was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman because she was in favor of girls receiving an education.

After her shooting, a moribund Malala was flown to England to recover and today, weeks after being released from the hospital, she attended her first day of school at Edgbaston High School For Girls.

"I think it is the happiest moment that I'm going back to school, this is what I dreamed, that all children should be able to go to school because it is their basic right," she told the BBC. "I am so proud to wear the uniform because it proves I am a student and that I am living my life and learning."

ITV reports that Malala will study at the school, this year, before moving on to her secondary education next year.

Vanity Fair has an astounding piece that details Malala's ordeal. It closes with this paragraph:

"In February, Malala was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. If she recovers, she has been primed to campaign, as Benazir Bhutto once did, against all religious extremism. 'That little girl stood up and was not deterred,' said Faranahz Ispahani. 'She paid a terrible price, but the price she paid may have awoken the world in a way that nothing else has.'"

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.