This paper reviews South Asia's achievements, prospects, and policy challenges in human capital development, particularly in education and skills. It also looks at how progress in these areas in South Asia compares with the improvements seen in other Asian economies, including the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Republic of Korea (ROK), and selected Southeast Asian countries, and analyzes the role of various factors that have contributed to differences in human development. An important question is how a South Asian country may be able to bridge the huge development gap to catch up with more advanced Asian countries. To catch up, South Asia must improve workers' education and skills. Human capital has been an important factor in the growth of income and productivity across economies in the long run (Barro and Lee 2015). Studies show a strong correlation between the level of higher education and training and technological readiness in an economy (ADB 2017). However, in South Asia, education and skills remain a binding constraint. Raising the quantity and quality of a workforce's education and skills is necessary to reach the level of human capital and economic development of the ROK, the PRC, and the more successful Southeast Asian economies.