Narayan Shrestha currently serves as the Director of Programs for USAID’s Early Grade Reading Program II in Nepal. EGRP II is a two-year (2020-2022) program of technical assistance to the Government of Nepal to improve children’s reading outcomes in grades 1-3 of primary school. In this role, Mr. Shrestha is responsible for overseeing the technical quality of activities in teacher professional development and support, local government capacity development, COVID-19 response in the education sector, and monitoring, evaluation and learning. He also takes the lead on representing EGRP II to key cooperating Government of Nepal offices at central, provincial, district, and local levels. Before EGRP II, Mr. Shrestha served from 2019-2020 in a similar capacity as the Director of Programs for USAID’s Early Grade Reading Program in Nepal.
Prior to joining RTI, Mr. Shrestha had 25 years of experience in the education sector under the Government of Nepal, Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MOEST) and associated agencies in a range of capacities. Most recently, he spent more than 12 years (2006–2019) at central-level agencies, including work on education sector planning and foreign aid coordination at the MOEST and the then-Department of Education (DOE). He also served in diverse sub-national education agencies for 13 years (1993–2006), including roles as a school supervisor, section officer, and instructor at an Education Training Center.
Mr. Shrestha is fluent in Nepali, Newari, Hindi and English.