Consultancy: Evaluation of Cambodia Multilingual Education National Action Plan in Cambodia

UNICEF, the world’s leading organization working for the rights of children, is looking to hire individual consultancy for Evaluation of Cambodia Multilingual Education National Action Plan in Cambodia. 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.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, evaluation.

UNICEF began providing assistance to Cambodia in 1952 and has been working since then to improve the wellbeing of Cambodian children. UNICEF established its first country office in 1973 in the capital of Phnom Penh. More information on what we do in Cambodia is available at https://www.unicef.org/cambodia/.

How can you make a difference?

The main purpose of this evaluation is to measure the extent to which the MENAP has been implemented and how well it has been implemented to strengthen the quality of multilingual education in the five provinces (summative). The evaluation will also help MoEYS and UNICEF identify lessons, good practices and innovations to explore ways to improve its support to more inclusive education in Cambodia (formative). As MENAP is ending in December 2018, it was agreed with MoEYS that the evaluation will be carried out before the end of 2018 to inform the strategic direction of the next five-year plan, and the new Education Strategic Plan. In addition, the evaluation will be shared with UNICEF’s Regional Office for East Asia and the Pacific (EAPRO) and other offices to foster learning on multilingual education across the organisation, as proposed in the Dissemination Plan.

MoEYS, including the Special Education Department, Primary Education Department, Early Childhood Education Department, Curriculum Development Department, Teacher Training Department, Preschool Teacher Training Centre, POEs and DOEs will be primary users of this evaluation, as well as UNICEF Cambodia (primary duty bearers) – notably the Education Section. Other stakeholders include commune councils, parents and their children (primary rights holders); NGOs (such as CARE International and others), EAPRO and UNICEF Headquarters (i.e., Programme Division) (secondary duty bearers).

The evaluation should include the following steps:

Step 1: Desk review of relevant background documents and literature search. The evaluator will review key background documents to understand MENAP, strategies and activities since its inception in 2014 to date and literature search of secondary data to understand the context in which MENAP operates.

Step 2: Preparation of Inception Report that includes evaluation methodology and tools. The methodology should be prepared to cover all the intended objectives of the evaluation. The evaluation methodology design will be finalized in agreement with the reference group (see below) and the Inception Report should be prepared based on the Evaluation Norms and Standards of UNEG and submitted to the evaluation manager for approval.

Step 3: Data collection. The application of mixed-methods (qualitative and quantitative) is expected, which should be human rights based, including child rights based, and equity and gender sensitive, as noted above.

Step 4: Data analysis. Collected data should be analysed by using relevant analysis methods that should be clearly described in the report.

Step 5: Sharing preliminary findings. The evaluator will share preliminary findings with the reference group. While feedback will be taken into consideration and incorporated into the draft report, the consultant is encouraged to guard against validity threats, such as personal bias.

Step 6: Draft report. The consultant prepares a draft report, with conclusions, lessons learned and recommendations drawn from the data. The report structure should follow UNICEF’s evaluation report guidance.

Step 7: Finalisation of the evaluation report. The consultant will present the final draft evaluation conclusions and recommendations to the reference group and other key stakeholders in a multi-stakeholder workshop, using a PowerPoint presentation and other methodologies for presenting in a participatory manner. Recommendation of the evaluation should also be presented and prioritised. Comments and feedback on the findings and recommendations should be incorporated to finalise the report.    

Good practices not covered therein are also to be followed. Any sensitive issues or concerns should be raised with the evaluation manager as soon as they are identified.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

The evaluation will be conducted by engaging an individual consultant that should bring the following competences:

• Holding an advanced university degree (Masters or higher) in monitoring and evaluation, education, international development, public policy, development economics or similar, including knowledge of inclusive education;
• Having extensive evaluation experience (at least 10 years) with an excellent understanding of evaluation principles and methodologies, including capacity in an array of qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods, and UNEG Norms and Standards;
• Having extensive experience in planning, implementing, managing or monitoring and evaluation, preferably in the education sector;
• Bringing a strong commitment to delivering timely and high-quality results, i.e., credible evaluations that are used for improving strategic decisions.
• Having in-depth knowledge of the UN’s human rights, gender equality and equity agendas;
• Having a good team leadership and management track record, as well as excellent interpersonal and communication skills to help ensure that the evaluation is understood and used;
• Specific evaluation experience of multilingual education is strongly desired, but is secondary to a strong mixed-method evaluation background;
• Previous experience of working in an East Asian context is desirable, together with understanding of the Cambodian context and cultural dynamics;
• The consultant must be committed and willing to work independently, with limited regular supervision; s/he must demonstrate adaptability and flexibility, client orientation, proven ethical practice, initiative, concern for accuracy and quality; and
• S/he must have the ability to concisely and clearly express ideas and concepts in written and oral form as well as the ability to communicate with various stakeholders in English. 

The consultant must remain in strict adherence with UNEG ethical guidelines and code of conduct. The evaluation does not need to go through an ethical review board, however, the consultant should clearly identify any potential ethical issues and approaches, as well as the processes for ethical review and oversight of the evaluation process in her/his proposal.

To view detail Terms of Reference for this assignment, please click here ToR-Evaluation-Multilingual-Education (final).pdf

Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above (including travel and daily subsistence allowance, if applicable).  Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

Remarks:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.