Shakira spoke at Harvard this weekend while collecting her prestigious award for Artist of the Year.

“As I entered the premises today I had to call my mum and say, ‘Hey mum, guess what? I got into Harvard!’ the Colombian superstar joked.

But she went on to address the more serious matter of education for underprivileged children.

“Not everyone can study at Harvard University. But everyone, wherever they live, whatever their background, deserves a chance to make the most of his or her potential,” she said. “And as a child of the developing world, it is my duty to use this voice in every way I can to promote the message about the power of education to change lives."

Shakira founded the Barefoot Foundation, a non-profit organisation whose mission it is to make education available to every child, when she was just 18.

Watch her full acceptance speech here: