Consultant for Monitoring Inclusive Education at the local level

UNICEF in Serbia is seeking a Consultant for Monitoring Inclusive Education at the local level consultant will develop set of instruments for monitoring inclusive education at the local level, prepare the report on inclusive education at the local level, capturing both qualitative analysis on additional support provided to children from marginalised and vulnerable groups and quantitate data collected from all LSGs. Additionally, the consultant will provide recommendations on how to establish a sustainable system of collecting and reporting data from the local self-government, related to inclusive education enabling evidence-based policy making at bot local at national level. The duration of the assignment is 45 working days, from mid-December 2017 to 25 March 2018.

Purpose of the Activity/Assignment:

The purpose of the assignment is to prepare comprehensive report on the inclusive education at the local level in Serbia for the period 2016-2017, as well as to contribute to establishing a sustainable system of collecting and reporting mechanism regarding social inclusion at the level of local self-governments.

Inclusive education has been set as education policy and subsequently incorporated into legislation adopted in the Republic of Serbia starting from 2009. Implementation of the quality education for all children is of key significance for the realization of child and human rights, social inclusion and human capital development. Law on the Foundation of the Education System in Serbia at all levels of pre-university education guarantees access to all children, ensures the right to education, institutional teaching with additional support and individualized approach. However, the achievement of goals and implementation of measures might be hindered by the absence of an adequate implementation monitoring system and challenges in providing accurate, comparable and relevant data.

The Framework for Monitoring Inclusive Education was developed in 2014 so as to support the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development and the Institute for Evaluation of Education Quality in objective monitoring of progress in the area of inclusive education with a view to continued implementation and improvement of inclusive education in Serbia based on the data collected. The document includes the Monitoring Framework for IE, that included three levels of monitoring (national, municipal and school level), the defined indicators and, wherever possible, the present and/or expected values of indicators. It also includes guidelines for development of instruments with examples of several developed instruments for monitoring of a series of indicators. The Framework was developed as a result of the joint initiative of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, UNICEF, Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit, the Open Society Foundation and the Institute for Psychology. The development of a series of indicators for monitoring inclusiveness of the education system, represented the first step towards introducing systematic monitoring and evaluation. However, in order to monitor education inclusion in a systematic, sustainable and continuous manner, further efforts are necessary as to improve the process of data collection and reporting regarding inclusive education, particularly at the local level.

In Serbia, national laws are implemented at the local level where local authorities are in charge for coordination, implementation and financing of different measures related to inclusive education, Laws and a range of bylaws govern the municipal functions that have a direct or indirect impact on the development of inclusiveness; among those functions, the key ones are ensuring the conditions for the operation of inter-sectoral committees, funding individual support plans and providing resources for vulnerable children to ensure their full participation in educational activities and social integration (Monitoring Framework for Inclusive Education in Serbia, 2014). Transferring responsibility and decision-making to local bodies in areas such as capacity development of professionals in education system or providing additional support to children from marginalised groups (e.g. transport, free textbooks, social services etc.) has the potential to empower local school communities and may result in increased accountability and efficiency. On the other side, level of development of LSGs and funds available for this type of support in LSGs may increase differences between schools in different municipalities and quality of educational outcomes and, in the longer term, social inequalities.

Local self-governments collect and keep data related to funding and provision of services in their jurisdiction important for planning and measuring effectiveness of IE provision. However, data collection procedures and instruments are not uniform and LSG are not obliged to channel these data to the republic level institutions or any providers of official administrative statistics. These data, although crucial for policy planning at national level, remain unavailable. 

Under the general guidance of UNICEF and in cooperation with Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development and Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit, the consultant will develop set of instruments for monitoring inclusive education at the local level, prepare the report on inclusive education at the local level, capturing both qualitative analysis on additional support provided to children from marginalised and vulnerable groups and quantitate data collected from all LSGs. Additionally, the consultant will provide recommendations on how to establish a sustainable system of collecting and reporting data from the local self-government, related to inclusive education enabling evidence-based policy making at bot local at national level.

The initiative will be implemented under the Joint Programme for Roma and Marginalised Groups Inclusion, Phase III, supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

Start Date: mid December 2017

End Date:25 March 2018 

Number of working days: Estimated 45 days over three months period (paid on actual days worked)

Work Assignment Overview

Task 1: Define methodology for monitoring inclusive education at the local level

Activities:

• Developing the methodology in consultation with local self-governments, Ministry of Education, SIPRU and UNICEF

Deliverables: 

• Proposed detailed methodology of the analyses for monitoring IE at the level of LSGs (municipalities and cities), including both methodology for collecting qualitative data from several LSGs (representative national sample) and quantitative data from all LSGs. Methodology should take into consideration additional support predicted by the Rulebook for Additional Educational, Health Care and Social Welfare Support to Children and Pupils provided at the local level (scholarships, free textbooks, school supplies..)

Timeframe: 7 days, by 22nd December 2017

Task 2:Develop set of instruments, collect data and prepare draft report on inclusive education at the level of local self-government.

Activities:

• Mapping existing data collection processes and available datasets at the local level, types of data collected and actors involved in the data collection process;
• Propose set of instruments for monitoring IE at the level of local self-government that includes qualitative and quantitative data collection in order to collect data from all relevant partners using different relevant research techniques;
• Validation of new data collection instruments
• Data collection and analysis
• Presentation on the main findings and recommendations to UNICEF, MoESTD, SIPRU and other relevant stakeholders

Deliverables:

• Instruments developed for quantitative and qualitative data collection
• Dataset on inclusive education within the mandate of LSGs
• Draft report and final report on the implementation of inclusive education at the local level in Serbia
• PPT on main findings prepared

Timeframe: 30 days in the period December 2017  - 15th March 2018

Task 3: Identify and propose set of indicators/locally available data relevant for monitoring and evaluation of inclusive education to be included into official statistics (regular statistical reports prepared by the SORS, data collected through the EMIS, by the MoESTD etc.). 

Activities:

• Consultative meetings with representatives from SORS, MoETSD and other relevant stakeholders.

Deliverables:

• Set of proposed data and recommendations for development of regular data collection system and monitoring by the national authorities.

Timeframe: 8 days, by end of March 2018

Minimum Qualifications required:

Master in Education, Psychology, Law, Political Sciences or other fields of Social Studied and Humanities.

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

• At least 5 years of experience in education policy and practice in Serbia;
• Excellent knowledge of legal framework in education, preferably in inclusive education
• Knowledge of legal framework that relates to distribution of authority among central, provincial and local government level.
• Experience in research, analysis and monitoring of education policies is required, preferably in IE;
• Strong analytical and conceptual thinking, ability to synthesise complex information, statistical knowledge;
• Sound judgement is required in follow-up on requests; high degree of accuracy is important;
• Knowledge of oral and written Serbian and English;
• Work experience with UNICEF and/or other international organizations would be considered as an advantage.

The application must include the following:

1. Daily rate in RSD (all costs to be included e.g. health insurance, pension, usage of mobile phone)

Important note: Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities to apply.