Dr. Nirmala Rao

Dr. Nirmala Rao

Dr. Nirmala Rao

Serena H.C. Yang Professor in Early Childhood Development and Education,

Professor, Chair of Child Development and Education,

The University of Hong Kong

 

Nirmala Rao is Serena H C Yang Professor in Early Childhood Development and Education, Chair Professor of Child Development and Education, and Director of the Consortium for Research on Early Childhood Development and Education (CORE), Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong (HKU).  A Developmental and Chartered (Educational) Psychologist by training, her research on early childhood development and education in Asian cultural contexts has been recognised internationally. This work has focused on the development of psychometrically robust and culturally-sensitive measures of both early childhood development and the quality of Early Childhood Education; early educational policy in the Asia-Pacific; evaluation of early childhood programmes; and culture, policy and pedagogy in the early years.

Professor Rao has authored over 300 publications. She has authored/co-authored 3 books;

6 major research reports; co-edited 2 books and authored/co-authored 30 book chapters. She has also published over 120 articles in peer-reviewed journals and co-authored policy briefs. She also serves on the editorial board of premier scholarly journals including Developmental Psychology (2013-2014) and Child Development (2013-2022). She has presented keynote papers and given invited papers in Asia, Europe, Middle East, North America and South America. Since 2005, she has regularly provided a specialist role in high-level international meetings and has written advocacy materials and undertaken consultancies for UNICEF, UNESCO, the World Bank, DFID, OECD and the Brookings Institute. She has received awards for both research and teaching.

Furthermore, she has also had significant administrative leadership roles including Deanships at the Faculty of Education and at the Graduate School of HKU.

 

Websites: https://web.edu.hku.hk/staff/academic/nrao &  https://www.nirmalarao.com/