On education, he said it “deserves to be treated as a basic human need alongside food, clothing, healthcare and shelter.” India won its political freedom 79 years ago, he noted, but “freedom from hunger, illiteracy and disease is a journey we are still on.” He spoke of growing up as one of eight children of a high school teacher, and of his mother’s practice of inviting a child from a poor family to every dinner. “So folks, I have seen poverty. I have seen how education can transform,” he said.
