The success of a society is to be evaluated primarily by the freedoms that members of the society enjoy.

The higher education has always appealed to the South Asian social leaders across all the countries in South Asia. But primary education has been neglected. The oddity, by the way, is if you look at the contrast in India, there are some areas like Kerala where there's a long history of educational development.

Belonging to humanity is a great thing for us, and I think the schools can do it. So I think we can look after the quality of education on the school even as we expand the availability of schooling.

I think the UN's role - especially since it's not an extremely rich fund, and that's to put it mildly - is mainly to act as a leading thinker of the world in terms of how to think about the future.

Anything that increases the voice of young women tends therefore to reduce the fertility rate.

You have to be interested in inequality. The issue of inequality and that of poverty are not separable.

Imparting education not only enlightens the receiver, but also broadens the giver - the teachers, the parents, the friends.