Inclusive Education Senior Officer (Re-announced)

Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA) invites all qualified candidates to apply for the following position. SCA actively promotes and encourages Women and People with Disabilities to apply

Title of Position:

Inclusive Education Senior Officer (Re-announced)

Job Number:

HRM/KMO 65-17

Duty Station:

Kabul Management Office

Number of Positions:

One (Female and Male)

Status:

The position is Open-Ended

Remuneration:

Salary and benefits are according to internal SCA salary policy                                        

Non-monetary Benefits for Females:

Transportation close to residence and work, child nursery at workplace, safe travel facilities and companion to field trips, female association membership, trainings and capacity building

Announcement Date:

17th Oct, 2017

Closing Date:

30th Oct, 2017

SCA Background

The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA) has been working in Afghanistan since 1982, presently managing development programmes concerning Health, Education, Rural Livelihoods and Community Governance, with a total annual budget of roughly USD 40 million. The total number of staff is around 5,500. During the last 10 years SCA has undertaken a change process moving from a primarily humanitarian service delivery approach towards more of a developmental role, putting increasing emphasis on capacity development, rights-based programming and outcome orientation. The mission of SCA is to empower individuals, communities and local organizations, primarily in rural areas and with particular focus on women, girls, boys and vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, so that they may participate fully in society and influence their own development. SCA is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants are considered for employment based on their skills, abilities and experience without regard to age (18-65 years), ethnicity, religion, marital status, gender, or physical disability.

Scope of work:

SCA has been actively involved in the Afghan education sector since 1982, engaging in both service delivery and capacity building and Advocacy for rights of all children to education. The programme aiming at increased access to quality education for Afghan children, improved quality of education and capacitated national education system is implemented in 13 provinces in east, southeast, north and northeast parts of the country through six Project Offices (POs) all led by the Kabul-based Education Programme Unit (EPU).

The Inclusive Education Senior Officer position is a challenging one but doable.  There are two programmes that are intertwined and that which work together to promote access to education for children (boys and girls) with disabilities in SCA. These programmes are Disability Programme and Education Programme. Whereas Disability Programme is well staffed and at least well knowledgeable in the area of special needs education and ideas about inclusive education, Education Programme has little knowledge in these areas.  As such, the key area of focus is staff capacity development particularly in the Education Programme. Staff here include, Master Trainers, Inclusive Education Trainers, Inclusive Education Resource Persons and Community Based Education (CBE) and Community Based Schools (CBS) teachers. SCA has more than 1500 teachers (male and female) posted to teach in CBEs and CBS. Many of these teachers have little knowledge on how to teach children with disabilities (boys and girls) in the same classroom with non-disabled children (boys and girls). The Master Trainers have had some introductory training in inclusive education and have been carrying out basic training to the teachers but due to lack of in-depth knowledge in the two areas, not much ground has been covered. Equally so, the Inclusive Education Training Officers (IETOs) at field level need extra training to hone their knowledge and skills in special and inclusive education.

In relation to the procurement, training and use of specialized equipment, the Senior Inclusive Education Officer will make sure that the equipment thus procured is well understood and well utilized to assist children with disabilities in their learning needs. Knowledge on how, for instance, an audiometer works and how a speech kit works would be very important. The Senior Inclusive Education Officer will be required to familiarize himself/herself with a range of equipment related to the teaching and learning of children with disabilities. S/he will be expected to conduct a series of trainings to share and impart learned skills to the Inclusive Education Training Officers and Inclusive Education Resource Persons about the workings of such equipment. Occasional trainings will be required to develop staff capacities. Other areas of training that go with this position are Sign Language and Braille. Further on, the Inclusive Education Senior Officer will be expected to liaise with the Ministry of Education, INGOs/NGOs and UN Agencies to provide support, participate in new developments of inclusive and special education as well as contribute towards promotion of education of children with disabilities as per the MoE’s Inclusive and Child Friendly Education Policy (ICF&E) of December 2014 now in force.

Qualifications & Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Education. A Batchelor’s Degree in either special or inclusive education would be preferable. Close to this qualification is a Master’s Degree holder in Early Childhood Development (ECD) from a recognized University. Proven experience of implementation of Community Based Education projects.
• 3-4 years relevant experience, especially within an NGO, UN agencies or similar organisation.
• 3- 4 year experience in teaching children with disabilities
• Knowledge of screening and early identification of disabilities
• Knowledge and experience in teacher training in the areas of special and inclusive education
• Related research skills and data analysis and interpretation
• Special and inclusive education manual development
• Knowledge and skills on Resource Centres Management
• Community mobilization skills
• Inter-agency networking skills
• Presentation skills and preparation of teaching and learning materials
• Planning, reporting, organising, budgeting and general staff management
• Technical skills in identifying, procuring, training and use required specialized equipment e.g., audiometers, speech kits, Braille machines, low vision devices
• Practical knowledge of Afghanistan Sign Language is essential but not a requirement.
• Computer skills at operator level, especially with MS Office packages.
• Fluency in English and Dari and/or Pashto, both written and spoken
• Interpersonal communication skills
• Supervisory skills, team building, analytical, and negotiation skills
• Experience of planning, reporting and budgeting
• Ability and willingness to travel to the project sites within Afghanistan and adjust to SCA environment.
• Ability to represent SCA in international forums e.g., conferences
• Honest, proactive and well mannered.

Main Responsibilities:

General

• Act according to the policy and regulations of SCA
• Keep updated with issues related to SCA and the environment where SCA operates
• Promote an attitude of team spirit and a strong focus on quality
• Develop good co-operation with SCA units, authorities, institutions and other NGOs
• Do related job as delegated by Education Programme Manager

Supervisory Tasks

• Coordinate and supervise Inclusive Education (IE) related activities in RMOs from technical perspectives.
• Oversee and guide the implementation of IE according to the policy, strategy, work plan, budget and other guidelines.
• Frequently supervise education activities in the field, at least 15-20% of time should be in project sites.

Technical Tasks

Among several other responsibilities, the Senior Inclusive Education Officer will:

• Provide technical guidance to staff on all areas of inclusive and special education
• Establish, maintain and update data related to all children with disabilities in all SCA operational areas.
• Uphold the established structure and norms of inclusive education in the Education Programme and once in a while, provide assistance whenever needed to the staff in the Disability Programme
• Monitor and evaluate the progress of inclusive education in SCA operational areas
• Produce reports detailing the progress thus made and pinpoint areas of improvement and those that need higher management support
• Take up a recognizable role in the Education Programme Unit to provide updated information about inclusive education.
• Be responsible for guiding, instructing, developing, and supporting field staff throughout the duration of the programme.
• Play a key role during the planning, budgeting, staffing and training of Education Programme Unit activities in order to advocate for children with disabilities (boys and girls), teachers (men and women), parents (mothers and fathers) for successful implementation of the programme.
• Develop training materials using locally available resources and conduct workshops for the same activity to boost the repertoire of teaching and learning aids for children with disabilities.
• Liaise with other stakeholders at local, national or international levels with a view to stay abreast of the new trends of inclusive education.
• Participate and contribute ideas in key government, INGOs and UN Agencies meetings where inclusive education is being discussed
• Liaise with Disability Programme to procure equipment required and perform other duties as called for by the Programme manager

Finance tasks

• Provide support to Education Programme Unit and Project Teams in relation to budgeting.
• Process IE related financial documents as per the SCA guidelines.

Training tasks

• Through transfer of own knowledge and skills, enhances the ability of education in EPU and RMOs in IE.
• Coach and mentor IE staffs in RMOs to ensure optimal results
• Identify training needs of IE staff in RMOs and give recommendations to EPU on training of staff.
• Ensure that all IE staff in RMOs have appropriate skills, knowledge and training to perform job functions.

Tasks of intra-organisational relations

• Promote gender equality, non-discrimination with regard to ethnic, political and religious background
• Participate in workshops, seminars & conference organised by the SCA management.
• Promotes good coordination with other SCA programmes, and other department at KMO especially Disability Programme with regard to Inclusive and Special Education.

Tasks of relation with external agencies

• Maintain good cooperative relation with the national and provincial authorities, UN agencies, NGOs and other stakeholders
• Participate actively in ensuring broad understanding and acceptance by central/provincial/local authorities of the Education projects/programme and SCA in genera
• Maintain good cooperative relation with the national and provincial authorities, UN agencies, NGOs and other stakeholders.
• Participate actively in ensuring broad understanding and acceptance by local communities of the education projects and SCA in general.
• Work for active community participation in education projects.

Miscellaneous Tasks

• Contributes actively to the successful development and good reputation of SCA
• Performs other tasks within the field of competency as assigned by the HoEP
• Actively contribute to the successful development and good reputation of the SCA.
• Do any other duties assigned by the Education Programme Manager.

Application Procedures:

• Interested qualified candidates should submit a full CV with a cover letter explaining their motivation in applying for the job and highlighting their relevant skills and experience;
• To apply online please send your application / CV to vacancies@sca.org.af
• Subject Line Must be:  Inclusive Education Senior Officer, HRM/KMO 65-17, Otherwise your application May not be Considered.
• Candidates may also submit applications by letter (hard copy) directly to the SCA HRM Unit in either Kabul, Ghazni, Kunduz, Wardak, Taloqan, Mazar-e-Sharif, Laghman or Jalalabad;
• Academic certificates or references need not to be submitted at this time. These will be requested if called for interview.
• Only short-listed candidates will be invited for written test and interview.

© Copyright 2015 Swedish Committee for Afghanistan