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Michelle Obama tells London schoolgirls 'the world needs you' Michelle Obama tells London schoolgirls 'the world needs you'
(about 1 hour later)
Michelle Obama has told a group of east London schoolchildren “the world needs more girls like you”. It was not a good day to be sitting your history GCSE at the Mulberry School for Girls in east London.
Once the ear-splitting screaming and cheering had died down, pupils at the Mulberry school for girls in the heart of London’s East End retook their seats and got the chance to question the US first lady. While the rest of school left their studies to welcome their celebrity guest, Michelle Obama, just down the corridor girls in year 11 were opening their papers and starting to write. As cheers from their fellow students resounded around the school, they remained locked away in the school gym doing the exams they have been working towards for the past two years.
Related: Michelle Obama visits London – in picturesRelated: Michelle Obama visits London – in pictures
Obama told them that, as someone who is black, female and also comes from a working-class background, she understands the need for a good education. But this was exactly the reason why Obama had chosen to visit Mulberry. The US first lady is in London as part of her Let Girls Learn initiative, which aims to remove the barriers that keep 62 million girls out of education around the world.
She told a packed assembly at the school for pupils aged 11 to 18 that she understands the challenge of being “overlooked” and undervalued. She had chosen this particular school – an all-girls comprehensive in Tower Hamlets, one of the most deprived boroughs in the country where more than 70% of the students are on free school meals – because of the quality of the education on offer and the importance attached to it.
Obama said: “With an education from this amazing school you all have every chance you need to rise above the noise and fulfil every one of your dreams.” She told a hall packed with students that some people were probably wondering why she had chosen to come to Tower Hamlets. “I’m here because of you,” she said. “I’m here because girls like you inspire me every single day. I’m so proud of your passion.”
Despite facing Islamophobia and poverty, 83% of the students from the Tower Hamlets school, including many from ethnic minorities, manage to secure a place at university. In a speech during which she admitted she struggled to control her emotions, Obama likened the experiences of the girls at Mulberry with her own upbringing in a working-class neighbourhood on the south side of Chicago.
Obama said: “The world needs more girls like you to lead our parliaments, our boardrooms and our universities. We need you for tackling the problems of climate change, poverty and disadvantage.” “I’m a bit older than you … yes I am,” she laughed, “but in so many ways your story is my story.”
Obama told the girls she could understand how it feels to be “lost in the shuffle” and that she never would have believed she would one day be the First Lady of the US. She described growing up in a small apartment with her parents, her father working as a pump operator. There was not much peace and quiet to work in the room she shared with her older brother Craig, so sometimes she would get up at 4am to concentrate on her school work.
She also told them it can be difficult to feel comfortable when people are saying things about your religion and you have to face those who need to “see beyond the headscarf”. Obama paid heartfelt tribute to the efforts of the young women in front of her. Almost all the students were Muslim and of Bangladeshi origin, with English as an additional language, but 83% will go on to university.
Obama is in Britain to discuss her campaigns for girls’ education and support for military families. Obama told them that, as someone who is black, female and also comes from a working-class background, she understood the need for a good education. “With an amazing education from this amazing school you all have every chance you need to rise above the noise and fulfil every one of your dreams,” she told the audience.
She is a promoting the Let Girls Learn initiative, championed by her husband, the US president Barack Obama. The campaign is billed as “working together to open the doors of education for girls around the world”. In a carefully crafted, classic Obama speech, which picked up on many of the themes she first spoke about in her visit to Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (EGA) school in north London in 2009, which helped find her cause, she acknowledged the challenges facing the girls. Some of the EGA girls were among Tuesday’s audience.
Dr Vanessa Ogden, headteacher of Mulberry school for girls, said: “The first lady is one of the greatest, most inspiring women of our time and her visit is an honour for us. Her use of her platform as first lady to drive change for girls and to break down barriers in access to education is critical for a civilised world.” “Maybe you feel no one is paying attention to you, you wonder whether it’s worth it, to aspire to be something great. Maybe you read the news and hear what folks are saying about your religion, and you wonder if anyone ever sees beyond your headscarf.”
Earlier, three generations of the first lady’s family were hosted by Prince Harry at Kensington Palace. She paid tribute to their efforts and said: “The world needs more girls like you to lead our parliaments, our boardrooms and our universities. We need you for tackling the problems of climate change, poverty and disadvantage.”
Obama, her teenage daughters Malia, 16, and 14-year-old Sasha and her mother Marian Robinson headed to Harry’s London home to take tea with the fifth in line to the throne. Obama’s visit was timed to coincide with a joint announcement by the UK and US of a $200m partnership to support adolescent girls’ education around the world, particularly in areas affected by conflict and crisis.
The first lady and her family spent around 40 minutes chatting with Harry, who was keen to catch up with them after the warm welcome he received at the White House during his trip to America two years ago. Dr Vanessa Ogden, the headteacher of Mulberry school, said: “The first lady is one of the greatest, most inspiring women of our time and her visit is an honour for us. Her use of her platform as first lady to drive change for girls and to break down barriers in access to education is critical for a civilised world.”
Kensington Palace said the prince was “very pleased” to host Obama and “delighted” to meet her daughters and her mother, who is said to be known as Mrs R. Earlier, three generations of the first lady’s family were hosted by Prince Harry at Kensington Palace. Obama, her teenage daughters Malia, 16, and 14-year-old Sasha, and her mother Marian Robinson headed to the prince’s London home to take tea with the fifth in line to the throne.
Harry is known to get on famously with Obama. He was a surprise guest at her Mother’s Day tea for military mothers in the US in 2013. The first lady and her family spent about 40 minutes chatting with Harry, who was keen to catch up with them after the warm welcome he received at the White House during his trip to the US two years ago.
Kensington Palace said the prince was “very pleased” to host Obama and “delighted” to meet her daughters and her mother. Harry is known to get on well with Obama. He was a surprise guest at her Mother’s Day tea for military mothers in the US in 2013.