Senior national TVET Expert (Design & Implementation)

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

Objectives:

The consultant is expected to support the UNICEF Lebanon Youth and Adolescent Programmes with the design and Implementation of the UNICEF TVET plan in addition to the coordination of this plan with line ministries and international organizations for the period of November 2017- September 2018. The UNICEF TVET plan will be designed based on the TVET initiative strategy and road map that resulted from the UNICEF/ ILO TVET mapping, which was conducted between October 2016 and October 2017

This action plan that the consultant will be responsible for will consist of key recommendations that UNICEF aims to support over the duration of the consultancy. Moreover, the consultant will support the implementation and coordination of the activities within this action plan with all concerned ministries, international organizations and UN agencies.

Background:

The second phase of the “No Lost Generation” (NLG) initiative comprises the need to expand access to multiple learning pathways available to Lebanese and non-Lebanese youth, including Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET), both in formal and non-formal settings, and delivered by both public and private training providers which is a key education strategic shift.

Enrolment in TVET is foremost an equity issue in Lebanon because it is considered as a ‘residual’ pathway for those students who cannot make it to the general secondary stream, and it is also associated with low quality education that does not provide concrete prospects and required skills in the labor market for employment.

The TVET service delivery in Lebanon is also highly fragmented with MEHE being the key service provider while a variety of different public and private institutions are also active in this field such as the Ministry of Labour (MoL) and of Social Affairs (MoSA), the National Office for Employment and the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), local and international NGOs and the private sector. The governance of the TVET system is also limited at central administration with little coordination and partnership between the different providers.

Responding to the issues detailed above, UNICEF (Youth and Edu sections together UNICEF RO) and ILO have jointly recruited a TVET expert from October 2016 to September 2017 to conduct a national mapping of TVET programmes across 4 ministries, private sector and Vocational training institutes/ NGOs and after develop a strategic road map for the improvement and reform of these TVET services.

The UNICEF/ILO joint exercise looked into the numerous gaps listed below in the TVET national system and invested in the design of a national Strategy and Roadmap that will serve as a guiding framework for improved and coordinated programmatic interventions in the TVET field in Lebanon and bring diverse stakeholders together for enhanced access, quality and system strengthening:

a- National framework or strategy guiding coherent programming towards scale, quality and relevance.
b- Absence of impact data,
c- Lack of oversight over private providers,
d- Management problems in training centres, as well as under-qualification of instructors and outdated teaching material.
e- The important share of the private training providers that rely on fees
f- The market relevance of the programmes provided
g- Access and perception of TVET
h- Institutional and human capacity in the area of TVET, including regulation and coordination,
i- Definition of programmatic avenues for TVET interventions addressing quality and employability, as well as certification.

The UNICEF/ILO TVET initiative has been highly praised from the line Ministries as well as from the private sector. All governmental and private sectors have shown great interest in the initiative. The initiative was received very seriously and seen as leading to concrete reform steps. Moreover, it has expanded to cover every stakeholder in the TVET system and the particular role played by UNICEF as a main focal point for education within the Syrian crisis was highlighted by all involved parties as crucial.

The initiative included several plenary and working group sessions organized to coach governmental staff on reviewing, planning and contributing to the mapping report, the strategic paper and the roadmap. One big working group/ plenary meeting involving all ministries and stakeholders is planned at the end of the exercise to endorse the plan and identify roles and responsibilities of every involved stakeholder.

The overall comprehensive mapping is finalized and available as reference document for all future TVET programmes. The draft strategic paper is also at its final version to be discussed and endorsed during the plenary session; together with the road map document that is now also being finalized.

In view of complementing the work initiated above, UNICEF is initiating a consultancy to design and Implement a UNICEF TVET plan and also support in the coordination of this plan with line ministries and international organizations for the period of October 2017- August 2018.

Scope of work:

While the main aim of the consultancy is to improve direct services to vulnerable populations and to feed into the TVET system strengthening plan, there are elements that need to be integrated to ensure that the programmatic guidance will be integrated in a Theory of Change that will lead towards more market relevant TVET provision in Lebanon.

As such, the consultant will develop a UNICEF TVET work plan based on the recommendations of the TVET strategic paper and road map, will follow up on its implementation within two ministries and will coordinate the implementation of the work plan’s activities with other actors and government counterparts.

Part I: Design and provide technical guidance/follow up on the implementation of UNICEF activities to support TVET in Lebanon

Component A of Part I: Design of a UNICEF TVET action plan
• To determine the components of the road map that UNICEF can handle according to its annual program and available funds.  This determination is function of the mandate of UNICEF and the agreements that it concludes with the Ministry of education and higher education (DGTVE), the Ministry of agriculture, the Ministry of social affairs, the National Office for Employment, the National Centre for Vocational Training and the various NGOs. 
• To develop the implementation methodology, project work plan and to identify and assign the roles and responsibilities of all team members and working groups participating in the implementation of the TVET UNICEF program.
• To design a UNICEF TVET action plan based on the TVET road map and strategic paper developed by UNICEF & ILO in 2017 and in consultation with the relevant actors identified by UNICEF.
• To elaborate and develop a coordination plan for all ministries involved; linked to the TVET action plan in which the roles and responsibilities of the ministries involved in the implementation is identified.

Component B of Part I: Follow up and technical support for UNICEF and identified actors in the implementation of the TVET action plan
• To guide the implementation of the TVET activities of the designed UNICEF action plan; including planning and day-to-day operation, technical support to the ministries’ staff, partners, committees, consultants and working groups.
• To establish with the appointed officials and the concerned agencies the needed strategy and action plan to initiate the process of moving from the current qualification system to a competency-based qualification one and to initiate the process.
• To establish with the appointed officials and concerned agencies the needed strategy and action plan for the introduction of life skills and other skills in the TVET curricula.
• To develop Terms of Reference and contribute to the selection of international and national consultants participating in the program upon request from UNICEF administration.
• To coordinate between consultants and other team members working within the framework of the reform of TVET in Lebanon and situated within UNICEF mandate.
• To contribute to the organization and implementation of capacity building program needed for the implementation of the TVET reform, including the contribution for the design of the training materials and the conduction of the workshops.
• To appraise, asses, review reports, and communication materials produced in the framework of the UNICEF TVET program, especially those addressed to and shared with Lebanese authorities, donors, sister UN agencies, international and national partners.
• To undertake any mission inside or outside Lebanon that is necessary to ensure proper follow-up and timely implementation of the UNICEF TVET program in Lebanon or in the Region.
• To prepare an Annual Report, as well as regular short quarterly reports on the progress of the reform process.
• To undertake any other relevant professional duties related to TVET education and training, which are assigned by the Director of UNICEF or the competent administration.

Part II: TVET Technical Coordination with the Government of Lebanon and identified local and international partners on projects related to the reform of TVET program and other crosscutting activities.
• To lead the process for the negotiations, design and planning of programs and projects related to the reform of Technical and Vocational education and training in Lebanon that could be implemented by UNICEF according to its national program.
• To monitor the implementation and progress of TVET Projects and interventions that UNICEF implements with the Directorate General of Technical and Vocational Education and Training and other stakeholders to guarantee quality control over the process.
• To ensure coordination with the international agencies working on the reform of TVET in Lebanon, especially ILO, UNESCO, GIZ, EU delegation and others.
• To ensure coordination and collaboration with all national partners and to provide technical assistance to national high officials especially the directors general in areas concerning strategies, planning, management, implementation and evaluation.
• To attend TVET technical meetings in ministries (without financial obligations) and report to UNICEF.

The proposed work feeds into the TVET strategic paper and roadmap developed within the UNICEF and ILO joint programme with 4 ministries and other stakeholders.

Deliverables and schedules:

Each month, the consultant will submit a progress report detailing the below three components of this consultancy; and providing a clear analytical overview of the challenges, status, lessons learned, success stories as well as recommendations on how to address the main challenges highlighted in the report.

To View the Deliverable, please see attached TOR:

 FINAL TOR of TVET Expert for post mapping.pdf

Timing:

The duration of the assignment is 11 months starting from the signature of the consultancy contract.

Reporting Requirements:

The consultant will report to the Youth and Adolescent specialist, in collaboration with the education section. Narrative reports will need to be submitted at the end of each completed task and approved by the supervisor for the payment to be issued.

Profile Requirements:

• Advanced university degree in the field of education or other related areas.
• More than 15 years of professional work experience in the field of education, with proven record of experience in high level policy TVET interventions
• Previous experience and work in TVET strategy development and technical support in Lebanon and with ministries
• Expertise in policy planning and strategy development in TVET associated to work experience with decision makers and stakeholders in Lebanon, proven by a detailed list of projects.
• Expertise and familiarity in the Lebanon TVET system (good knowledge of national policies) and the MENA regional educational context.
• Good writing, data processing, analytical and synthesis skills.
• Experience in conducting interviews and collecting information for further analysis.
• Fluency in English, and in Arabic.
• Excellent organizational skills.

Administrative Issues:

• Direct supervision, monitoring and follow up will be done by the UNICEF YAD Specialist
• The consultant can be office/field/home-based depending on deliverables and tasks.
• The consultant is expected to provide his/her own SIM Card, laptop and necessary software, UNICEF may provide temporary office space as necessary. 
• The consultant should submit an all-inclusive financial proposal as part of the consultancy proposal and is responsible to submit payment invoices along with deliverables over the course of consultancy contract.
• The consultant is not entitled to payment of overtime. All remuneration must be within the contract agreement.
• UNICEF Lebanon may facilitate visa procedures; however, all visa related costs must be borne by the consultant.
• The selected consultant will be required to share proof of heath/medical insurance prior to contract issuance. Health/medical insurance costs for the duration of this consultancy will be borne by the consultant. 
• All materials designed and produced under this consultancy, including copyrights, will be the property of UNICEF. Publication and distribution of such materials will require prior written consent by UNICEF.
• The selected consultant may not commence work or travel until the relevant individual contract has been duly approved, signed by both parties.