National Preschool Education Consultant for developing a guidebook on Creating Child-friendly Preschool Environments

National Preschool Education Consultant for developing a guidebook on Creating Child-friendly Preschool Environments

National Preschool Education Consultant for developing a guidebook on Creating Child-friendly Preschool Environments

• Background

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Georgia represents a decentralized system with municipalities in charge of provision of public ECEC services free of charge for children 2-6 years of age. In response to a number of system level challenges in ECEC, the Parliament of Georgia adopted the first ever Law on Early and Preschool Education and Care (EPEC) in June of 2016. The EPEC law was developed in 2014-2016 with UNICEF's technical support and active participation of multiple stakeholders: the Parliament of Georgia, line ministries - Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Protection, Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure; municipal kindergarten management agencies, NGOs and academia. The law includes major innovations targeted to improving quality, access and equity in ECEC throughout Georgia. The EPEC law introduces mandatory national standards and standard-based authorisation system of all public and private preschool institutions. 

UNICEF is committed to support the Government of Georgia with the implementation of the EPEC law. In 2016 UNICEF has provided technical assistance to the line ministries in development of following national standards and regulations in line with national requirements and evidence-based best international practices/standards:

1. Early and Preschool Education National Standards;
2. Professional standards for early and preschool caregiver-pedagogues;
3. Early and Preschool Infrastructure and Physical Environment Standards;
4. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Technical Regulations;
5. Nutrition Standards;
6. Preschool authorization regulation;
7. Public Preschool Control/monitoring standards;
8. Preschool Data Registry and list of data and indicators.

According to the EPEC Law the above developed national standards and technical regulations will be adopted by April, 2017. 

To facilitate understanding and implementation of the key principles of the national standards, UNICEF will provide technical assistance to MoES in developing supplementary methodological resources. To this end, UNICEF is searching for a qualified national consultant for the service as below explained. 

• Overall goal of consultancyOverall goal of consultancy is to support MoES in: 

• Development of guidebook 'Creating child-friendly preschool environments' (including topics: key principles, understanding child rights in the context of ECEC, relevant legislation and procedures for preventing and responding to VAC, forms of violence and their impact on child development; principles, strategies and practical examples for creating child-friendly preschool environments). The guidebook should be a well referenced, user-friendly resource for preschool personnel and ECEC pre-service training students.The national consultant will work closely with the task leader and another ECEC national consultant on the above tasks. The consultant will work closely with MoES, state universities, professional organizations, municipalities, preschools and other stakeholders. The consultant will be obliged to meet the set deadlines as a part-time consultant as described in the below Chapter 3 (Specific tasks, timeframe and deliverables) and produce deliverables in a high quality manner. UNICEF will measure consultant's performance and quality of deliverables in accordance with UNICEF's regulations.

• Specific tasks, timeframe and deliverables

Activity/ Task 1. Based on the review of relevant international and local literature and national preschool education standards, develop an outline of the guidebook on 'Creating child-friendly preschool environments' together with the team (task leader and another national ECE consultant).

            Timeframe: Month one.

            Deliverable: Report on literature review; draft outline of the guidebook.

Activity/Task 2. Conduct a focus groups with stakeholders (MoES, field experts and preschool practitioners) to receive feedback on draft outline.

            Timeframe: Month one

            Deliverable: Report on a focus group conducted with stakeholders; finalized outline based on received feedback.

Activity/Task 3. In close collaboration with the team of national consultants develop first draft guidebook on 'Creating child-friendly preschool environments', including topics: key principles, understanding child rights in the context of ECEC, relevant legislation and procedures for preventing and responding to VAC, forms of violence and their impact on child development; principles, strategies and practical examples for creating child-friendly preschool environments.

            Timeframe: Months one, two and three.

            Deliverable: First draft of guidebook.

Activity/Task 4. Conduct a focus group with stakeholders (MoES, field experts and preschool practitioners) to receive feedback on the first draft of the guidebook; circulate e-version of draft guide among stakeholders to receive written feedback.

            Timeframe: Month four

            Deliverable: Report on a focus group conducted with stakeholders; written feedback received from team of national consultants and stakeholders; feedback provided to other consultant working on the guidebook.

Activity/Task 5. In close collaboration with the team of national consultants finalize draft guidebook on 'Creating child-friendly preschool environments' based on received feedback.

            Timeframe: Month four and five

            Deliverable: Finalized guidebook.

 Duration and mode of consultancy. The consultancy service is required for the duration of five (5) months starting as of July, 2017.

• Supervision

The consultant will work under the overall supervision of the UNICEF Deputy Representative. Day-to-day supervision and guidance will be provided by UNICEF's Education Officer.

• Required qualification

• Advanced degree in Psychology or Education.
• Good knowledge of existing laws and standards in the field of ECEC and child protection (related to VAC) in Georgia.
• Good knowledge of Convention on the Rights of the Child and General Comment 7.
• Successfully proven experience in developing methodological resources/guides for ECEC.
• Successfully proven experience of training preschool personnel.
• Experience of working in a preschool setting is an asset.

• Demonstrated ability to manage complex relationships with a wide range of partners
• Demonstrated ability to review relevant international literature in English.
• Fluency in written and spoken Georgian

 Competencies for the post:

• Working with People; Communication; Analysing, Writing and Reporting and Drive for Results. 
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• Payment terms and rates

Consultancy fees will be disbursed to the national consultant on a monthly basis upon delivery of respective deliverables as specified in Chapter 3 above (Subject to agreement with consultant in accordance to UNICEF rules and regulations)

NOTE: Applicant should include the requested monthly fee (Gross including 20% of income tax) in Georgian Lari in his/her application letter to UNICEF.

• Contract arrangement and duration:

1. This is a part-time consultancy service for the duration of five months.

Leave

• The consultant has no entitlement for annual leave, sick leave, maternity, adoption or paternity leave or any other kinds of special leave.
• Health Insurance: UNICEF does not provide or arrange health insurance coverage for consultants. Health Statement forms must be submitted to UNICEF prior to signing the contract.
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• Termination of the Contract

The contract may be terminated by either party before its expiry date by giving a 14 days' notice in writing to the other party. However, in the event of termination on the ground of misconduct, UNICEF will be entitled to terminate the contract without notice. In such case, the Contractor will be compensated on a pro-rata basis for no more than the actual amount of work completed to the satisfaction of UNICEF.