Listening to local voices? International targets and decentralised education planning in Nepal

This article draws on a case study of district educational planning in Nepal to explore how education for all priorities and targets impact on educational practice at the sub-national level. It raises questions about the extent of local ownership of education and development targets and highlights the micro-politics of data collection exercises. Viewing targets from the ‘bottom-up’ allows a more contextualised understanding of their impact on education reform to be developed. The article concludes by questioning the value of target-driven initiatives in their current form. While targets may illuminate some aspects of our understanding of education reform, they mask the diversity of socio-political interests that intersect in the arena of schooling provision.