Data Must Speak: Nepal
Positive deviance reports and project briefs
Highlights
Since 2014, the Government of Nepal and UNICEF Nepal have engaged in Data Must Speak (DMS), a long-term joint initiative that aims to find cost-effective and data-driven local solutions to challenges in the country. To date, DMS has supported the transition of the Education Management Information System (EMIS) to a web-based system, the development of the Equity Index that is a core tool of the Consolidated Equity Strategy for the School Education Sector in Nepal, and production and use of district and school profile cards using data from the EMIS. These profiles are shared with policymakers, school management and community members to support monitoring and improving school performance.
The DMS positive deviance research in Nepal was introduced in 2021, with the aim to identify practices and behaviours that allow some schools – called positive deviants – to perform better than others despite operating in a similar context and with equivalent resources, and to identify levers to scale these practices.
DMS is a global initiative launched in 2014 to address the evidence gaps and mitigate the learning crisis using existing data. The DMS Positive Deviance research is co-created and co-implemented with Ministries of Education and key partners. It employs mixed methods and innovative approaches, including positive deviance, behavioural sciences, implementation research and scaling science to generate knowledge and practical lessons. The research focused on understanding ‘what works’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ to scale grassroots solutions for national policymakers and the international education community.
On this webpage, you will find all the DMS Positive Deviance research outputs related to Nepal:
DMS Stage 1: Understanding what resources and contextual factors are associated with good school performance
- Stage 1 Report: Unpacking Factors Influencing School Performance in Nepal
DMS Stage 3: Discovering locally led behaviours and practices to improve quality education
- Stage 3 Report: Schools Inspiring Change: Research on the practices and behaviours of positive deviant schools in Nepal
- Executive Summary Stage 3 of the DMS research in Nepal
Citation: UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of Nepal and UNICEF Nepal, Schools Inspiring Change: Research on the practices and behaviours of positive deviant schools in Nepal, UNICEF Innocenti, Florence, November 2024.
