If you don’t dream, you don’t live. If you dream, you win the world.
Najat Vallaud Belkacem has proven these words true from being an outlander to becoming the first woman to serve as education minister in France. In the Moroccan countryside, Belkacem was born as the second child out of seven siblings in the village of Bni Cheker. Early on, she lived in rural areas of northern Morocco’s Rif mountain ranges before moving to France with her mother and sister at the age of four to join her father, who was employed there as a construction worker.
Belkacem was naturally interested in politics as an immigrant. However, no other person would have ever dreamed of becoming a minister one day except Belkacem. Her journey through school was straightforward, and later in life she received a scholarship to study politics at the Paris Institute of Political Studies and graduated in 2002 at the age of 26. She also became a member of the Socialist Party in the same year.
In 2005, she married civil servant Boris Vallaud after courting him at the university. She also gave birth to twins – a boy and a girl.
Belkacem was appointed Minister of Women Affairs to the French Cabinet in 2012. She has since made herself known by tackling issues that concern people and are out of the mainstream of French politics.
As woman affairs minister, she backed gay marriage legislation and gender ideology despite being criticized by many, the independent reported. As minister of education, Belkacem called the burkini ban in France “a threat to the freedom of individuals,” even though she is a non-practicing Muslim.
According to a radio interview, she opposed both -from the forced wearing of burkinis to the banning of swimwear. However, Belkacem continues to be attacked by the country due to his immigration status. It is also sometimes said that she flaunts her charms.
In an interview with French newspaper Le Monde, Belkacem said she was fortunate to have had the opportunity to study despite being born in a village without electricity. Her story is an inspiration for us all. Its proven that Life is 10% What Happens to You and 90% How You React to It
