Social media users have hurled abuse at Julia Gillard after the former prime minister shared a photo of herself at school to encourage young girls in their education . Ms Gillard tweeted the photo with the caption ' # TBT [ throwback Thursday ] my school pic ! On # IWD2015 [ International Women 's Day ] Stand # UpForSchool to empower our girls ' on Thursday morning . The 53-year-old 's tweet was met with harsh replies among the supportive tweets , including one which said it was a shame that Ms Gillard had grown up to be ' a bitter vile person ' . Scroll down for video . Ms Gillard tweeted the photo with the caption ' # TBT [ throwback Thursday ] my school pic ! On # IWD2015 [ International Women 's Day ] Stand # UpForSchool to empower our girls ' One Twitter user responded to the abuse and claimed the former prime minister was ' a far better person than you will ever be ' Other Twitter users claimed she had grown up to be 'an ignorant a***ole ' , and that she would 'go down as the worst PM in history ' . 'Girls should n't have to do what you did to get on in the world , not a good example ! ' , tweeted another . Several social media users were quick to jump to Ms Gillard 's defence , labelling the comments 'bitter ' and 'angry ' , and one Twitter user claimed the former prime minister was ' a far better person than you will ever be ' . 'Winning smile . Breaking glass ceilings in Australia for women and redheads , ' tweeted one user , while another wrote , 'Congratulations . You are a great role model for all young females ! ' Ms Gillard tweeted the photo as part of A World At School 's project 'Up for School ' , an international campaign to achieve the Millennium Goal of seeing all children in school . The project cites a statistic of 58 million children still out of school , and ahead of International Women 's Day on March 8 , Ms Gillard , who has long been outspoken about the disadvantages women face . Other Twitter users claimed she had grown up to be 'an ignorant a***ole ' , and that she would 'go down as the worst PM in history ' The 53-year-old 's tweet was met with harsh replies among the supportive tweets . Social media users abused the former prime minister after she posted a photo of herself at school . ' I want to see a future where every girl is educated and empowered to reach their full potential , just like I was . I ’ m sharing my school photo in solidarity with the 31 million girls around the world who are still denied the right to go to school , ' Ms Gillard wrote about her post . Ms Gillard , who is well-known for her 'misogyny ' speech , spoke at the NAB Women ’ s Agenda Leadership Awards ceremony about the importance of encouraging girls in education and women into leadership positions . 'It is a universal truism in development , when you speak to people in the global development community , that if you want to change the society , educate a girl , ' Ms Gillard said . 'If you educate a girl , then she will have the empowerment and the economic freedoms , which come with that education , when she moves into the labour market , and more choices about how and when to have her children , she will choose to have less children , and have them later in her life , ' reported Business Insider . 'In this great country where we enjoy so many remarkable privileges , I feel very intensely the obligation to make sure we are reaching out to our neighbours and helping them educate their girls… who are most likely to be left behind . '
Julia Gillard tweeted a 'throwback Thursday ' photo of herself from school . The tweet was part of a campaign to encourage girls in their education . Her post was met with horrible abuse from social media users . Users claimed she grew to be ' a vile bitter person ' and 'arrogant a**hole ' Other users came to her defense , calling her inspirational for women .