Q&A

Questions for  Angelina Jolie

Education For All

Actress and People magazine’s “Most Beautiful Woman” in the world Angelina Jolie talked to NEA Today last spring about education around the globe. She was in Namibia  at the time, awaiting one very famous baby. But other children were also on her mind: The 100 million worldwide who never attend school.

You’ve visited refugee camps and villages in Africa, Asia, and Bosnia as an ambassador for the United Nations’ High Refugee Commission. What disturbs you most on those visits?

Answer: Seeing children sitting idle with nothing to do! It’s just one of the saddest things, seeing a little life...going to go to waste. Children are either going to get an education and become better people—understanding their rights, taking care of their family, [participating in] democracy—or they’ll be left to sit.

In your travels, do you see education changing children?

Answer: You see kids who have every reason to hate get to school and get happy. They’re talking about becoming doctors or learning about law.…On a personal note, my daughter’s from Ethiopia, and that’s a country where the number of children going to school has doubled, but 6 million still sit out every day. It’s a very personal thing to me when I see my daughter learning, getting ready to expand her mind. She’s a real bright kid, [but] she’d have had no chance.

Your every move is under incredible scrutiny. How do you turn that attention from you and your family to causes that are important to you?

Answer: I’m a public person, but I’ve tried when I can to shed some light on good things. I came from privilege, growing up in Los Angeles  , and didn’t know how much I should appreciate in life. Now I want my children to grow up seeing the world as it really is, not just one corner.

The National Education Association and Education International, of which NEA is a member, are campaigning for Education For All. To learn more about efforts to improve education worldwide, visit www.nea.org/international.  Also, watch for the PBS premiere on September 5 of “Time for School.”