I just read an amazing piece in Huffington Postwherein Julia Gillard tells the world that education played a key role in helping her to become the 27th Prime Minister of Australia.

“I was born in Barry, a seaside town in Wales. Both my mother and my father worked there as police officers. My father came from a coal mining village and was one of seven children. That hard start in life meant he wasn't able to finish school or go on to college or university. Like so many parents, he and my mother wanted to ensure that my older sister and I would be better off, that we'd get a better education and use it to advance later in life. When I was four, he and my mother moved us to Australia where I was educated and later, far beyond my parents' dreams, I became Prime Minister,” Gillard explains.

57 million kids around the world do not have access to primary school. Gillard says that, “if we don't invest in education, we will miss a unique opportunity to lift millions of people out of poverty by giving them the basic skills they need to escape a life of poverty. Over the next month, we need to do everything we can to make sure that world leaders understand and feel the urgency of committing to getting all children a primary education.”

Gillard’s call to action is compelling and clear – getting kids into school is essential to ensuring that they are able to take charge of their own lives.

One of the best ways to get kids to school is to support the Global Partnership for Education. Already, the Global Partnership for Education has helped get 22 million children into school by working with developing countries. We have the momentum to change more lives than ever before, including girls, children with disabilities, and those living in fragile and conflict-affected places. But all of that can be lost if we don’t keep the pressure on world leaders to contribute funds and support to the Global Partnership for Education.

Education should be a basic right. Join me and former Prime Minister Julia Gillard and tell the world what you accomplished #BecauseOfSchool. Together we can help raise awareness about the importance of education and call on world leaders to get all kids into school.

Judith Rowland