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National Literacy Specialist to Support the MoESCS in the Development of a National Second Chance Education Programme (catch-up and accelerated learning programme) for Out-of-School Children and Children at Risk of School Drop Out in Tbilisi, Georgia

Tbilisi

  • Organization: UNICEF - United Nations Children’s Fund
  • Location: Tbilisi
  • Grade: Consultancy - Consultant - Contractors Agreement
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Education, Learning and Training
    • Translations and Languages
    • Children's rights (health and protection)
    • Project and Programme Management
  • Closing Date: Closed

the National Literacy Specialist to Support the MoESCS in the Development of a National Second Chance Education Programme (catch-up and accelerated learning programme) for Out-of-School Children and Children at Risk of School Drop Out

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.

  1. CONTEXT

All children and adolescents have the right to quality education. Yet, in Georgia, there are many children, especially from the most socially and economically marginalized groups, who do not have access to compulsory education. The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia (MoESCS) has identified a list of children who have either dropped out or are at high risk of not being in school or not completing school, which includes children with disabilities, children living and working on the streets, children from ethnic minority groups, children in public care, orphaned children, internally displaced persons (IDPs), stateless children, refugees, and children from very remote areas.

  1. ISSUE

Currently, Georgia has limited Second Chance Education programmes to provide opportunities for out-of-school children and adolescents to re-enter the formal education system, catch-up or accelerate learning, achieve quality learning outcomes and transition from school to the labour market. The main problems relate to a lack of qualified teachers and educational services in schools and day-care centres, limited availability of teaching and learning resources to catch up, as well as a lack of accelerated learning programmes in the formal curricula to successfully integrate in regular schools. Although student assessment tools are available, they are applied differently as teachers lack a strong grasp of the assessment approach. Hence the assessment is primarily used for grading rather than an educational resource. Despite several efforts to improve assessment literacy, students and teachers still focus on the importance of numeric marks, even though those marks might not accurately represent what a student can do.

  1. RESPONSE

To address similar situations, many European countries have successfully developed Second Chance Education programmes. Within the European Union, Second Chance Education is "specifically targeted at individuals who, for a variety of reasons, never attended school or left school before completion but wish to enter an education programme or occupation for which they are not yet qualified". In Georgia, guided by the Sustainable Development Goals, UNICEF has been providing technical assistance to the MoESCS in the development of national Second Chance Education programmes to improve children's learning outcomes. So far, with UNICEF support, the MoESCS conducted a comparative analysis of international best practices, identified relevant models and developed an action plan for immediate steps to introduce Second Chance Education.

  1. ACTION:

In 2019, the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria, UNICEF and the MoESCS launched a two-year partnership project which aims at supporting the MoESCS in developing national Second Chance Education programmes (catch-up and accelerated learning programmes) for out-of-school children and children at risk of drop-out, and to initiate the implementation in 15 model schools and six day-care centers currently providing bridging education and transition of children to public schools. Successful completion of this pilot project will be the foundation for a nation-wide scale up of Second Chance Education Programmes in Georgia.

For this partnership, UNICEF is seeking to contract a National Literacy Specialist to support MoESCS in elaborating teaching and learning resources (as listed below in chapter No: 5) for implementing the National Second Chance Education Programme.

  1. SCOPE OF WORK:

Under the supervision of the UNICEF Education Officer, and in close consultation with the MoESCS, the Literacy Specialist will develop:

  1. Literacy education focused adapted curricula and learning standards of Second Chance/catch-up/accelerated education which should comply with the national curricula and communicate what students are expected to know and be able to do
  2. teachers' guidelines on literacy education
  3. literacy educational resources for students
  4. literacy education modules and programmes for training and supervised coaching of teachers and school administration
  5. literacy education programme for Training of Trainers (ToT)
  6. literacy education classroom assessment instruments to determine what students know and are capable of doing, help them advance in their learning and make an informed decision on the next step in their education
  7. participate in piloting and finalization of all above listed resources
  1. DELIVERABLES AND DEADLINES:

Deliverables include production of the following resources under the overall guidance, coordination and technical support of the UNICEF Education Officer:

  1. Deliverable: Adapted curricula and learning standards of Second Chance education programme

Deadline:  April 2020 

  1. Deliverable: Teachers' guidelines (reading books on pedagogy) developed

Deadline:  May 2020 

  1. Deliverable: Modules and programmes for training and supervised coaching of teachers and school administration developed

Deadline: June 2020 

  1. Deliverable: Programme for training of trainers (ToT) developed and implemented

Deadline:  July 2020

  1. Deliverable: Educational resources for students (supplementary learning/reading materials in addition to textbooks which easily explain school curricula)

Deadline:  August 2020 

  1. Deliverable: Classroom assessment instruments developed.

Deadline: October-November 2020 

  1. Deliverable: Focus groups and discussions conducted, piloting and finalization of resources throughout service duration completed

Deadline: November 2020 

All deliverables shall be submitted in Georgian language.

  1. SUPERVISION:

Day-to-day supervision will be provided by the UNICEF Education Officer. Overall supervision will be provided by UNICEF Deputy Representative.

  1. DURATION AND MODE OF CONSULTANCY:

Consultancy service is required for the duration of 100 working days stretched between April - November 2020 with a possibility of extension. Service is based in Tbilisi with possible travel to municipalities. Travel costs will be negotiated between UNICEF and the consultant based on an offer from the consultant.

  1. REQUIRED QUALIFICATION:
  • Advance University Degree in Education or another related field
  • At least 5 years of experience in General Education context that includes developing and reviewing school curricula, methodological resources, assessment and monitoring instruments and systems etc.
  • Proven expertise in Curriculum Development policy, programmes and training
  • Proven expertise in literacy-related curricula development
  • Excellent writing skills in Georgian
  • Good facilitation skills proven with workshops and meetings
  • Proven organizational and coordination skills
  1. PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

The consultant's performance will be evaluated against the following criteria: timeliness, responsibility, initiative and quality of the resources delivered.

  1. PAYMENT TERMS

Service fee will be disbursed to the national consultant upon submission and acceptance of deliverables by UNICEF as follows:

  • First payment of 20%: upon submission of deliverables No: 1
  • Second payment of 20%: upon final submission of deliverables No: 2 - 3
  • Third payment of 20%: upon submission of deliverables No: 4 - 5
  • Final payment of 40%: upon submission of deliverables No: 6 - 7
  1. LEAVE
  • The consultant has no entitlement for annual leave, sick leave, maternity, adoption or paternity leave or any other kinds of special leave.
  • Health Insurance: UNICEF does not provide or arrange health insurance coverage for consultants.
  1. TERMINATION OF CONTRACT

The contract may be terminated by either party before its expiry date by giving 14 days' notice in writing to the other party. However, in the event of termination on the grounds of misconduct, UNICEF will be entitled to terminate the contract immediately, without earlier notice. In case of early termination of the contract, the Contractor will be compensated on a pro-rata basis for no more than the actual amount of work completed to the satisfaction of UNICEF.

  1. APPLICATION DEADLINE AND DOCUMENTS

Deadline for the submission of applications is COB 8 April 2020.  Applications should include:

  1. CV
  2. Motivation letter
  3. Samples of applicant's resources developed in the education field
  4. Proposed monthly service fee
  5. Names and contact details of three references

 

This vacancy is now closed.
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