This belief in reason and freedom underlaid Tagore’s outlook on life in general and education in particular, leading him to insist that education in depth, and for all, is the most important element in the development of a country. In his assessment of Japan’s remarkable economic development, for example, he highlighted the hugely constructive role of good school education – an analysis that would be echoed much later in the economic literature on development, including by the World Bank and the United Nations.
