“The link between economic growth and human development has been a subject of rigorous empirical econometric work since the 1970s. Education, which is an important component of human development, has been found to explain varying levels of return and economic growth. Further, it has been found that countries that have equalised their educational achievements for men and women have, on average, grown faster, and that externalities of women’s schooling are higher than those for men. Many empirical studies have concluded that child development (birth outcomes, survival, schooling and productivity in adulthood) depends more on increased schooling of the mother than increased schooling of the father.”