Education is our weapon of choice

July 18 is Nelson Mandela International Day, a celebration of Mandela’s work and that of his charitable organizations, who are calling followers to be “changemakers”. Education is a key part of this message for positive change. Going to school is about more than developing skills: it is also the path to peace, as encapsulated in Mandela’s famous maxim: “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

While president of South Africa, Mandela identified education as a pivotal tool for nation-building and reconciliation. Education continues to offer the potential for segregated communities to focus on common goals in South Africa and beyond. It is the key to combat inequality, reduce poverty, tackle preventable deadly diseases, and promote all Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Nelson Mandela, addressing the UN General Assembly in 1999

Nelson Mandela was the first in his family to go to school – imagine if he had never had the chance! Our recent policy paper showed that 57 million children are out of school. Around half of these will probably never step foot in a classroom. Among these children are potential world leaders who will not have this chance because they are denied an education.

For sub-Saharan Africa, home to over half of the world’s out-of-school child, Mandela’s call for education is even closer to home. One in five primary school age children in the region have either never been to school or left before completing their primary education. Of the 30 million children out of school, 16 million are girls.