Dr Lava Deo Awasthi is the Director General of the Department of Education and the Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Education in Nepal. Dr Awasthi worked in Government organizations and education institutions in different capacities. Earlier he was the Head of Ministry’s Planning Division and Educational Management Division, including higher education functions of the Ministry of Education.

Dr Awasthi coordinated the planning process of Nepal’s School Sector Reform Programme. He has initiated reform programmes for improving learning in schools, with emphasis on children’s cognitive development.

In addition, Dr Awasthi is a Visiting Faculty in Kathmandu University and Tribhuvan University of Nepal. He has also been engaged in educational research and development. Dr Awasthi’s particular areas of interest include diversity education, inclusive and special needs education, research and development, cosmologies and cultures.  He has authored a number of books and articles in education and development, local cosmologies, Multilingual education, language power and pedagogies.