Journey from being a Moroccan Shepherd to France’s Education Minister

Not many know Najat Vallaud Belkacem, who overcome many challenges in life, yet very determined at her Will, not submitting to the pressures exerted by the society.
Najat Vallaud Belkacem is a French Socialist politician, born in Morocco on 4th October, 1977. She is second in a family of seven children. She has spent her childhood as a Shepherd Girl herding sheep and fetching water from the wells. In the year 1982, she moved to France along with her mother and Elder sister Fatiha. Her Father was a construction worker.
In France, her friends made mockery of her for the way she dressed, and she was harassed and faced lot of discrimination there. This made her determination stronger to stand against discrimination. Soon after her graduation from the Paris Institute of Political Studies in 2002, she entered into politics. She joined socialist party in 2002 as an adviser to mayor of Lyon. Later she contested for elections and won the seat of the Councillor. In 2012, she was appointed as the Minister of Women’s Affairs by François Hollande, the then Socialist president. In the year 2014, she served as the Minister of Women’s Right, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Minister of City Affairs.
In a major cabinet shuffle, she was promoted to serve as the Minister of Education.
She describes herself as a “non-practicing Muslim.”
Najat said, “I have always advised the youths to get involved in politics. The best way to be happy with your future is by playing a part in it. If you’re just a spectator of collective fate, you’re bound to feel frustrated.”

-Siasat web team