National Preschool Education Consultant for supporting interagency coordination council of the Parliament of Georgia on implementation of the Law on Early and Preschool Education and Care

National Preschool Education Consultant for supporting interagency coordination council of the Parliament of Georgia on implementation of the Law on Early and Preschool Education and Care

1. 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 technical 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.

In 2017 UNICEF provided technical assistance to Tbilisi City Assembly and other interested municipalities in developing five local by-laws as envisioned by the EPEC law. Additionally throughout 2017 UNICEF provides support to central and local government in capacity building of involved stakeholders to ensure better preparedness for implementation of the law and national standards. Recently the Legal Issues Committee of the Parliament of Georgia has established interagency coordination council on implementation of the EPEC Law (hereafter- coordination council) to oversee the effectiveness and efficiency of the implementation of the law until 2020. Along with major governmental stakeholders UNICEF is the member of the coordination council and is providing technical support.

In the efforts to provide the technical assistance to the above coordination council, UNICEF is searching for a qualified national consultant for the service as below explained. 

2. Overall goal of consultancy 

1. Overall goal of consultancy is to support the coordination council in:

• Development of a short-term action plan (for July-October, 2017) to support implementation of EPEC law;
• Oversee follow-up actions by government to adopt national preschool standards and other national by-laws;
• Networking and technical guidance to  municipalities for (i) implementation of national standards and technical regulations, including authorization standards, (ii) developing local plans and budgets for in-service training of preschool educators and directors, (iii) data collection, monitoring and evaluation;
• Coordination of activities planned under the short-term action plan and supporting the work of the council;
• Development of a three year strategy and action plan 2018-2020 for implementation of EPEC law;
• Development of a guideline and tool for monitoring implementation of EPEC law;
• Communication and coordination activities with stakeholders as necessary (parliament, central and local governments, other key stakeholders);

• Ensuring active participation of coordination council members in all activities planned as part of the consultancy.

   

  The national consultant will work closely with interagency coordination council, MoES, MoLHSA, MoESD, municipalities 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.

• 3.  Specific tasks, timeframe and deliverables

   

   

Activity/Task 1. Develop a short-term action plan (for July-October, 2017) to support implementation of EPEC.

            Timeframe: Month one

            Deliverables: First draft of short-term action plan developed; Comments received from the coordination council members; finalized action plan.

Activity/Task 2. Oversee follow-up actions by government to adopt national preschool standards and other national by-laws.

            Timeframe: Month one to month three.

            Deliverable: Status report on adoption of national standards and other national by-laws developed in liaison with Government Administration and involved line ministries.

Activity/ Task 3. Develop first draft of three year strategy and action plan 2018-2020 for implementation of EPEC law.

            Timeframe: Month two and three.

            Deliverable: Draft strategy and action plan 2018-2020 for implementation of EPEC law;

Activity/Task 4. Networking and technical guidance to municipalities for (i) implementation of national standards and technical regulations, including authorization standards, (ii) developing local plans and budgets for in-service training of preschool educators and directors, (iii) data collection, monitoring and evaluation.

            Timeframe: Throughout consultancy (month one - month five)

            Deliverable: Information leaflets developed for distribution in municipalities; Information sessions held in all regions of Georgia.

Activity/Task 5. Coordinate activities planned under the short-term action plan and support the work of the coordination council.

            Timeframe: Throughout consultancy (month one - month five)

            Deliverable: Meeting notes from coordination council meetings; reports reflecting undertaken activities in line with the short-term action plan and priorities identified by the coordination council.   

Activity/Task 6. Finalize the strategy and action plan 2018-2020 for implementation of EPEC law with active participation of coordination council members and other key stakeholders.

            Timeframe: Month three and four.

Deliverable: Feedback received on strategy and action plan from coordination council members and other key stakeholders; finalized strategy and action plan based on

Activity/Task 7. In close collaboration with the coordination council develop guideline and tool for monitoring implementation of the EPEC law for 2017-2020.

            Timeframe: Month four and five.

            Deliverable: Guideline and tool for monitoring implementation of the EPEC law for 2017-2020.

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

5. Supervision

The consultant will work under the overall supervision of the UNICEF’s Education Officer. Day-to-day supervision and guidance will be provided by UNICEF’s Education Officer (Early Childhood Education).

 6. Required qualification

• Advanced degree in Social sciences; 
• Good knowledge of existing laws, regulations and standards in the field of preschool education in Georgia;
• At least two years of professional work experience in the field of early childhood/preschool education;
• Experience in developing a strategic documents on education;

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

7. Payment terms and rates

Consultancy fees will be disbursed to the national consultant upon presenting respective deliverables: (Subject to agreement with consultant in accordance to UNICEF rules and regulations):

I payment – Deliverables 1, 2, 3.

II payment – Deliverables 4, 5, 6, 7.

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

 8. Contract arrangement and duration:

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

9. 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.

   

  10. 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.