Technical support towards the strengthening of ECCE (Early Childhood Care and Education) in the national education sector plan. Development of a monitoring evaluation and quality assurance framework, for improved early learning and school readiness

UNICEF Kyrgyzstan is looking for a national consultant who provides technical support to the Ministry of Education and Science (MOES) of the Kyrgyz Republic on integrating pre-primary education into ESP (Education Sector Plan) development processes, as well as the overall coordination, of planning, implementation, documentation, monitoring and reporting of the activities under BELDS (Better Early Learning and Development at Scale) Initiative. The consultancy aims to support MOES on improving monitoring and evaluation, and quality assurance of the early learning and school readiness.

Objective/purpose of the consultancy/services

Technical support to the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic on integrating pre-primary education into ESP processes, as well as the overall coordination, of planning, implementation, documentation, monitoring and reporting of the activities under BELDS.  The consultancy aims to support MOES on improving monitoring and evaluation, and quality assurance of the early learning and school readiness.

Background

Often the bottlenecks to the scale-up of ECCE lie in planning, implementation and monitoring challenges. Over the last year, UNICEF Headquarters, in consultation with its regional offices, developed a Pre-Primary Sub-Sector Conceptual Framework to support countries in strengthening their pre-primary sub-sectors. The framework suggests that an effective pre-primary education sub-sector requires strong national policies, coordination and monitoring frameworks, relevant financial trade-offs, ministerial leadership, and public demand for early education services. Furthermore, investment and support in five key action areas are crucial to build a coherent sub-sector that can deliver quality services at scale, namely:

(1)          planning,

(2)          curriculum,

(3)          workforce,

(4)          family and community engagement, and

(5)          quality assurance.

Furthermore, UNICEF is committed to elevating the priority and status of pre-primary education by ensuring that pre-primary education is systematically integrated into Education Sector Planning processes. As part of these efforts, UNICEF HQ’s Education Section was recently awarded a Global Partnership for Education (GPE) grant to support the development and piloting of a comprehensive approach/toolkit to in-country capacity development for pre-primary education in a small number of countries (Better Early Learning and Development at Scale ‘BELDS’ Initiative).  This will involve piloting a capacity development process that consolidates existing or new effective approaches, tools and models for integrating pre-primary education meaningfully into national education sector planning and policy implementation cycles.  The work is aimed to explore and resolve common planning and implementation challenges hampering the pre-primary sub-sector.  Kyrgyz Republic was selected as one of the piloting countries under BELDS.

The consultancy aims to support MOES in building an understanding of the key elements of a coherent pre-primary sub-sector and integrating pre-primary education into the country’s Education Sector Plans (ESPs).  As part of this overall objective, the consultancy will support the MOES with the activities under the BELDS Initiative. In this regard, the Kyrgyz Republic is in the process of developing its Education Sector Plan (2019-2026), with the support of the World Bank.  There is thus an opportunity under BELDS to ensure that a targeted process is developed for integrating early childhood education into the ESP, complemented with capacity building at the national and sub-national levels.  An inception workshop is scheduled to take place in March (dates to be confirmed) to jumpstart this process.

The consultancy will involve overall technical support to the MOES with integrating pre-primary education into ESP processes, as well as the overall coordination, planning, implementation and monitoring of the activities under BELDS.  The consultant will be expected to be based at MOES three full working days per week, and two days per week will be spent at UNICEF.

Technical assistance on integration of ECCE into national education sector planning and policy implementation cycles will include preparation and participation at the planned inception workshop, developing a work plan with specific goals and activities under the BELDS initiative, focusing on addressing capacity gaps across system levels in terms of effective planning and implementation of ECCE, participation at cross-country peer learning and mentorship events (ex. webinars, workshops, cross-country visits) and strengthening the monitoring and evaluation of current ECCE activities supported by UNICEF in the Kyrgyz Republic.  It is to be noted that the consultancy addresses the overarching aim of supporting the MOES with strengthening the pre-primary sub-sector and ensuring that pre-primary education is well reflected in national ESP processes, with BELDS activities being an important piece under this broader objective.

The scope of work and key tasks 

1. Technical guidance to MOES in integrating ECCE into national education sector planning and policy implementation cycles, including supporting the activities under BELDS:
   1. Design and develop an ECE plan within the broader ESP;
   2. Develop a capacity building plan to strengthen capacity in ECE at national and sub-national levels;
   3. Overall coordination, planning, implementation and monitoring of the BELDS activities;
   4. Coordinate with and support UNICEF HQ with documenting Kyrgyz Republic’s process and experience under BELDS, with the view of developing a case study;
   5. Technical inputs and participation at peer-to-peer events and sharing of experiences (workshop/webinars, etc.);
   6. Participation in technical and consultation meetings, advocacy and policy dialogue, including at Local Education Group meetings;
2. Support the MOES in ensuring that the M&E of the overall ESP addresses the ECE plan adequately.
3. Liaise with UNICEF in the Kyrgyz Republic, UNICEF Regional Office (Europe and Central Asia), and UNICEF HQ, regularly and as necessary, to ensure the effective implementation of BELDS activities.
4. Other duties upon request and upon mutual agreement related to the consultancy objective.

Deliverables

 Estimated schedule of deliverables for the period of in-country piloting and documentation is illustrated below.

Reporting and supervision

The consultant will report to and supervised by the ECD Officer in consultation with the Chief, Child Survival and Development.  

Qualification/level requirements 

• Postgraduate degree in education/or social sciences, humanities;
• Minimum 5 years of practical experience in the field of education, educational policies and reform in the educational sector (preferably in early childhood education), as well as experience with education sector planning processes;
• Familiarity with new educational development trends and socio-economic reforms, especially in the CEE/ CIS region;
• Previous work/experience with similar projects;
• Proficient writing and communication skills;

• Strong analytical skills;

• Proven experience and ability to work in a team;
• Fluency in Russian, Kyrgyz and English languages;
• Knowledge of UNICEF priorities would be an asset;
• Proven experience with international organizations and multi-cultural environments.

Duty station and official travel involved

Duty station is Bishkek with possible in-country and international travels.

If UNICEF determines that the Contractor needs to travel in order to perform his or her assignment, that travel shall be specified in the contract and the Contractor’s travel costs (including, but not limited to costs for obtaining visas and travel insurance) shall be set out in the contract. In cases where travel costs have not been set out in the contract, provisions of UNICEF Procedures on Travel apply.

Individual contractor travelling on behalf of UNICEF must meet the standard trip prerequisites, including but not limited to Medical Clearance, Security Clearance through the Travel Request Information Process (TRIP) system, the Basic and Advanced Security in the Field Trainings, Travel Visa, and liability waiver (see Annex 1). Trip prerequisites will be met at the expense of the consultant. 

Travel paid for by UNICEF shall be based on economy class travel, regardless of the length of travel.

Costs for accommodation, meals and incidentals shall not exceed applicable daily subsistence allowance (DSA) rates, as promulgated by the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC).

Duration

Initial contract duration is 11.5 months with possible extension for another 3 months until the end of the project. The contract may be extended only based on satisfactory performance and genuine programmatic need.    

Payment terms

Payment during the first 10 months will be done on monthly basis based on the progress report duly certified by the supervisor.         

Note: In all cases, consultants may only be paid their fees upon satisfactory completion of services. In such cases where payment of fees is to be made in a lump sum, this may only be payable upon completion of the services to UNICEF’s satisfaction and certification to that effect, and any advance on the lump sum may not exceed 30% of the fees. In such cases where payment of fees is to be made in instalments, the final instalment may not be less than ten per cent (10%) of the total value of the contract and will only be payable upon completion of the services to UNICEF’s satisfaction and certification to that effect.