International Consultancy - Support the implementation of quality and inclusive education in Guinea Bissau.

The Guinea Bissau CO would like to hire an international consultant to support the implementation of quality and inclusive education in Guinea Bissau.

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For every child, Education

The Government of Guinea Bissau has an unwavering commitment to improving the quality of basic education. In the National Strategic and Operational Plan (2015 -2025), the Terra Ranka education is viewed as the pillar of the human development axis. The Government of Guinea Bissau has gone further to articulate the key goals and learning outcomes of education in the National Education Policy. The National Education Policy in unison with the National Strategic and Operational Plan (the Terra Ranka) advocate for education for poverty reduction, human capital development and for Peace and Human Rights.  It is these three broad aims of education that should guide the standards, curriculum, practice and the leadership and management of the education sector.

The Ministry of Education and its partners aim to achieve the above aims through:

• Universal coverage and provision of good quality basic education for human capital development
• Good quality technical and higher education to meet economic and labour market demands
• Citizenship education that promotes Peace, Human Rights, Health, Civic, Environment and Climate Change knowledge.

For the above goals to be achieved, the education that is provided by institutions has to be suitable for the purpose. This means it has to meet certain specifications and standards. The National Strategic Plan (the Terra Ranka), the National Education Policy and the Education Strategic Plan (ESP) all call for good quality education. There is therefore the need to have clear quality standards for each aspect of education on which the provision of education should be assessed, measured and evaluated.

While there are many definitions of the term quality, fitness for purpose has been the most accepted one. This definition is mostly acceptable in that it recognises the fact that education is not static but rather underpinned by the ideological, social and political values (the desirable qualities) that are intended by the particular education system. Sayid (1997) declares that Quality in education does have a bottom line and that bottom line is defined by the goals and values which underpin the essential human activity in education It is due to the differences in the aforementioned goals and values that the models and quality areas differ from country to country. However, the characteristics of quality are usually the same and include the following as suggested by Maxwell (1992) and Barret et al (2006): Access, Equity, Efficiency, Effectiveness, Relevancy to need, Social acceptability.

This consultancy is aimed to support UNICEF and the Ministry of Education to deliver quality and inclusive education to primary education children. It will focus on two main aspects:

Develop tools and support the implementation of the National Quality Standards

In 2016/2017, UNICEF provided technical guidance and support to Ministry of Education for development and validation of National Quality Standards for Primary Schools. These standards were developed through a consultative process with the members of the Local Education Group through a series of workshops.

The validated document of National Quality Standards covers different dimensions including the quality learning environment, management of school. This document currently encompasses nearly 100 quality benchmarks in different areas pertinent for quality education and ensuring that children are learning. However, for the operationalization of the quality standards, in discussion with Ministry of Education it has been decided that tools will have to be developed to be used at school level as well as by sector level and regional level education staff involved in managing schools especially for primary level. This consultancy is therefore to develop the tools based on NQS which will be used by different education entities at national and sub-national level to benchmark quality and inform the decentralized planning and monitoring and school development plans.

Support the monitoring and evaluation of Child Friendly Schools (CFS)

Child friendly School initiative, developed jointly by UNICEF and other partners and implemented in many countries around the world, aims to provide children with a learning environment that leads to optimal learning and learning. In Guinea Bissau, its implementation, which is based on the adaptation of international guidelines to the country context, has led to the development of tools that respond to the interests and needs of children in 47 schools targeted by the initiative in 5 of the 9 regions of the country.

ACTIVITIES AND TASKS

In consultations with Ministry of Education Technical Team and partners (NGO and others), the work will entail the following:

• Prepare and submit the inception report which will include the materials to be developed and the work methodology;
• Reorganize the NQS in line with the sector plan priorities;
• Develop draft tools for school, sector level inspectors, regional directors and national level for benchmarking quality and monitor CFS;
• Develop guidelines for using the results from the benchmarking exercise for development of school development plans and informing decentralized planning;
• Finalize the tools for NQS and CFS monitoring after field testing;
• Give technical support to the CFS evaluation;
• Develop the training manual for training school management committees and school inspectors on assessing schools using the NQS related instruments, and use of the information for school development plans (SMCs) and monitoring (school inspectors);
• Conduct training of trainers for a core group who will then in turn train the school management committees;
• Support Ministry of Education to collect and update data on CFS (related to teachers, students participation in schools, students' performance, gender equality, school environment, etc.);
• Prepare the end of assignment report which will include all the materials developed.

DELIVERABLES, TIMEFRAME AND PAYMENT

Key deliverables and payment schedules are:

1. Inception report submitted 2 weeks after starting day - 10 %
2. Finalization of the NQS document and brochure and guidelines for decentralized planning, 1 months after the starting date - 20 %
3. Finalization of the tools and training manuals, 2 months after the starting date - 20%
4. Training of trainers completed, 3 months after the starting date - 20%
5. Data base of CFS schools updated, By the end of the assignment - 20 %
6. End of assignment report submitted, Last week before end of assignment - 10%

The consultant is to submit the deliverable 2, 3, 4 and 5 to the Ministry of Education for validation before final submission to UNICEF.

METHODOLOGY AND ORGANIZATION OF WORK:

Duration: The contract will be for a 4 months period from the start date. The table above is an indicative time table for the contract. The consultant is free to propose a different time table, as long as the proposal clearly explains the sequence of activities, Earlier delivery while maintaining quality standards will be favorably considered in the technical assessment. However, the contract will not be extended beyond said period.

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

• Advanced University degree in Social Sciences and other related areas.
• A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible professional work experience in education, monitoring/evaluation and allied fields.
• Fluency in Portuguese and English (written & verbal) is required.
• Good command of Microsoft package.

CONDITIONS OF WORK

• Under close supervision and technical guidance of the Chief of Education or Education Specialist,  the consultant will support the implementation of quality and inclusive education in Guinea Bissau. All the products developed will be the property of UNICEF.
• As a general principle, the fees payable to a consultant shall follow the best value for money principle (achieving the desired outcome at the lowest possible fee). Therefore, the Consultants are required to indicate their fees for services to be provided (financial proposal). In case the offered fee is higher than the remuneration scale of the UN system for consultants, the UN scale rates will be applied.
• The consultant will work with their own IT equipment. No UNICEF's address email/internet will be provided to the Consultant.
• UNICEF Bissau will provide office space and other secretarial support.
• The financial proposal should be comprehensive including communication costs.
• UNICEF will ensure transportation and accommodation during field missions.  

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.

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.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

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.