A Moroccan shepherd immigrant girl rose to the office of the French Minister of Education by dint of her sheer dedication, determination and courageous struggle. Her resolve for never give up despite unmatchable challenges paved her way to the glorious portfolio.
Najat Belkacem is a Moroccan Muslim French minister who herded sheep in her childhood. Because of her background and her place of birth and religion, she has been a sweet target for all the regressive sexist and racist comments conservative politicians can throw at her. They also attacked her by calling her slurs, objectifying her for the way she dresses and Najat had continued to fight back efficiently, but they failed in breaking the spirit of a woman who had worked hard tooth and nail to get where she was.
She had also run offices of Minister of Women’s Affairs (16 May 2012 to 25 August 2014, Ayrault government and Valls government), Minister of City Affairs (2 April 2012 to 25 August 2014, Valls government), Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports (2 April 2012 to 25 August 2014, Valls government), and Government spokesperson (16 May 2012 to 31 March 2014, Ayrault government) successfully.
She is the youngest person and woman ever to be appointed as France’s Minister of Education in 2014! Hats off to her and her story prove that if you have the will and the determination, nothing and no one can stop you! So then, are you inspired to chase your dream?
Her success story that makes readers amazed and astonished. It inspires us and makes us want to achieve great things in life. These stories stay with us for long and the people who win against all odds often become more than personalities and inspirations, they become someone we look up to and genuinely respect. We want to be like them.
The story of an ordinary shepherd girl from Morocco who went on to achieve her dream and become not just an inspiration to all but someone who an entire nation respects, she’s now the education minister of France!
Najat Belkacem had a long and inspirational historical struggle which led her way to the portfolio of French Minister of Education and Research and this development is an inspiration to everyone who believes truly that even the people who have had poor childhood can succeed because she was born in 1977 in a small village of Nador in the countryside in Morocco. Her father was in France and had a job as a construction worker and asked Najat and his family to move to France with him and she moved to the suburbs of Amiens in 1982 She studied hard and graduated from the Paris Institute of Political Studies in 2002 and immediately joined the Socialist party and started fighting for citizen rights, affordable housing and against discrimination. She was elected as a councilwoman in Rhone Alpines and stayed in office till 2008.
In 2008, she was elected as the Council General of the Rhone department and was well recognized in politics by then. In 2012, she was appointed as Minister of Women’s Rights and spokeswoman for the government under president Hollande andfinally in 2014, she was elected as the Minister of Education.
A recent opinion poll conducted by a French newspaper showed that Najat Vallaud-Belkacem had become the country’s second most popular politician in France. She has meticulously blazed a trail through the heart of French politics.
Over the years, she has refused to be limited by her background as the one-time Moroccan immigrant whom the world would have labelled as a fugitive and wanderer in a country designed to politically eliminate people of low class.
In a time when immigrants were tagged as vagabonds, a young girl lived her life beyond the verdict of her ‘shabby’ back- ground. Against protracted odds and stifling oppositions, she rose from a poor and humble background to becoming the first French woman ever to be appointed Minister of Education, Higher Education, and Research.
Melange Report