Ever since UNESCO proclaimed 8 September as the International Literacy Day, we have been celebrating it every year. This year it falls on Tuesday, 8 September. As a reminder of how far we still have to go, we have compiled a list of celebrities who are promoting education worldwide.
Priyanka Chopra:
The star of ABC's upcoming drama "Quantico" and former Miss World, Priyanka Chopra, is a very vocal advocate of women's rights and education. She became the UNICEF National Ambassador for child rights in 2010 and is also a supporter of United Nation's 'Girl Up' campaign, and the narrator of 2013 film "Girl Rising".
Pitbull:
Dubbed as "Mr Education", the hit-making rapper, Pitbull aka Armando Christian Pérez, opened a new public charter school for students of grades six to 12, in Miami's Little Havana. Sports Leadership And Management Academy (SLAM), which imparts education on core subjects with a sports theme, is aimed at students who find schools boring.
Dolly Parton:
With her literacy programme, Imagination Library, singer Dolly Parton sends a book monthly to every child enrolled in the programme, from the day they are born till they go to primary school. Children from the US, UK, Canada and Australia are part of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, and it is understood to have distributes over 8.3 million free books to children annually.
Andre Agassi:
The tennis champion partnered with Canyon Capital Realty Advisors LLC and created the Canyon-Agassi Charter School Facilities Funds in 2011. The primary purpose of the fund was to invest in the building of charter schools across the US. Back in 2001, Agassi also founded the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas.
Shakira:
The "Hips Don't Lie" singer is a huge advocate for education causes, and has in fact opened eight schools in her native country, Columbia. The most recent one, which opened in February 2014, serves underprivileged children from backward communities.
