Julia Gillard on the power of universal education

“The forces of darkness, the terrorists, know that education is a powerful change agent,” says former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard in this podcast about her commitment to global education. Ms. Gillard, now a distinguished fellow with the Center for Universal Education at Brookings and chair of the Global Partnership for Education, discusses a variety of topics, including her path to becoming Australia’s 27th prime minister; overcoming barriers to achieving universal education; why quality of education matters as much, or more, than getting children into school; and what needs to be done in the post-2015 development agenda to achieve gender equity in education.

The forces of darkness, the terrorists, know that education is a powerful change agent, too, and that is why they seek to deny its power to girls by the shootings that we’ve seen, including the shooting of Malala, the acts of direct violence, the kidnappings in northern Nigeria and in other places—all of the things that are meant to send a message to girls, don’t go to school, don’t risk it. And we’ve got to be pushing hard in the other direction. — Julia Gillard

Show Notes:

– Brookings Center for Universal Education
– Global Partnership for Education
– The future of global education: What is the role of non-state actors?
– #GirlsEdu: The Value of Girls’ Education in 2014 and Beyond
– The Life of an Australian Prime Minister: A Conversation with Julia Gillard on My Story

Subscribe to the Brookings Cafeteria on iTunes, listen on Stitcher, and send feedback email to [email protected].