SPP Graduate Student to Present Research on Technology and Education in Nepal

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Palista Kharel, a graduate student in the School of Public Policy, has been invited to present her capstone research project at an Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) conference n April in Washington, D.C.

Kharel, who will receive a dual master’s degree this spring in public policy and administration and business administration, will take part in a panel on “Topics in Education Policy” at APPAM’s regional student conference April 6 and 7.

Her research looks at how access to technology affects student academic achievement in Nepal, where she grew up. While previous research has looked at the significant role technology plays in student achievement, she notes, that research has focused on developed countries, rather than developing nations.

Kharel’s capstone project uses data from a World Bank survey of 19,000 Nepalese households and includes students in public and private schools, in urban and rural areas. Her research considers whether access to four kinds of technology—electricity (“In a developing country, this is still an issue,” she says), radio, television and computers—can be linked to higher student achievement.

While Nepal has a high rate of school enrollment, student test scores have been “dismal,” Kharel points out, with fewer than half passing national academic exams.

Her research considers the socioeconomic disparities in Nepal—for example, not all households have access to electricity, and lower-income families can’t afford generators to deal with the rolling blackouts that have long been a problem in the nation—and how they affect student achievement, with an eye toward developing possible policy solutions.