International Consultancy: Technical support to UNICEF Uzbekistan country office and Ministry of Public Education for improving quality of Distance Education

To guide the process of improving quality of distance education and ensure timeliness and quality of this process, UCO Education Section seeks the services of an international professional individual. The expert is expected to provide technical support throughout the process of development of teaching methodology and tools for distance education, preparation new video-lessons, and in the process of building capacity of national experts.

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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.

Background

Main focus of the Multi-Year Work Plan between the Ministry of Public Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan (MOPE) and UNICEF for 2019-2020 for the ‘Quality Learning for All’ programme is to reform school curriculum in line with competency-based approach. In 2019, UNICEF provided technical support to develop the first ever National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for the general secondary education system. Following the finalization of NCF, a roadmap for the whole process of revision and implementation of subject and grade specific curriculum was also developed. The Working Groups formed under the leadership of the Republican Education Centre (REC) under MOPE are currently preparing the subject-specific curriculum and syllabuses.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic set new tasks and priorities for the Government and UNICEF. On March 16, 2020 the Government of Uzbekistan declared a nation-wide lock down as a response to COVID19 outbreak and decided to suspend school activities for three weeks from March 18, 2020, and subsequently decided to continue the same till the end of the academic year at the end of May 2020. In order to ensure that learning is not interrupted, MOPE decided to start distance learning (DL) and requested UNICEF for technical support.

UNICEF supported REC in two ways: (a) provided Direct Cash Transfer (DCT) to REC to mobilize appropriate technical and curriculum experts and methodologists to guide teachers in preparing video lessons; and (b) engaged an international expert to provide initial support to capacity building of national experts in designing and implementing distance learning programme and review the content and instructional methods of the video lessons.

The video lessons produced by REC with UNICEF support were broadcasted through four state-run television channels and children in each grade receive four lessons per day, amounting to at least one hour of total instructional time. In addition, these lessons are also made available on: (a) online Maktab Telegram channel (with around 84,000 subscribers and around 2.6 million views daily); and (b) Telegram Channel of MOPE (with close to 80,000 subscribers and 250,000 views daily). During nine weeks till the end of the academic year 4492 video lessons in Russian, Uzbek and Karakalpak languages were scripted, produced and broadcasted.

UNICEF conducted a series of rapid assessments of DL programme to understand the outreach of the programme as well as students’ and parents’ views on continuing DL programmes after school re-opening through U-report platform as well as the State Inspectorate’s official website. In addition, UNICEF also used World Bank’s Listening to the Citizens of Uzbekistan (L2CU) survey of May 2020 by including questions on distance learning. A vast majority of the respondents (more than 90%) reported using distance learning programme introduced by the government. A vast majority of respondents wanted DL to continue either as it is or with improvements in content and presentation.

While more than 90 percent of students had access to video lessons, it was evident that quality of lessons was not fully realized due to: (a) as it was emergency situation, there was not enough time to learn from best practices around the world;  (b) full-scale capacity development activities were not possible due to emergency situation: on average, 120 lessons were filmed every day; and (c) there was not enough time to build capacity of personnel involved to adapt the best practices.

Now, after 2019-2020 school year closure, MOPE, REC and UNICEF has decided to work more systematically on improving quality of video lessons and search for other ways of DL to reach all students. MOPE is developing a learning platform where all video lessons and other DL materials will be placed. DL lessons will be used by students who might be back to school later, due to gradual schools reopening and blended learning, or those who temporarily cannot attend school by any reason. In addition, video lessons will be used for teachers’ preparation to implement the new competency-based curriculum. Video-lessons will be filmed for all new curricular topics, to familiarize teachers with new content of curriculum and new approaches in teaching methodology and assessment.

To guide the process of improving quality of distance education and ensure timeliness and quality of this process, UCO Education Section seeks the services of an international professional individual. The expert is expected to provide technical support throughout the process of development of teaching methodology and tools for distance education, preparation new video-lessons, and in the process of building capacity of national experts.

Objectives:

1. Analyze the DL Plan and Training Needs of REC methodologist and teachers responsible for producing video lessons;
2. Based on the analysis, develop a comprehensive Training Plan and appropriate training materials including Learning Videos for Teachers;
3. Using the training materials, carry out the online training of REC methodologist and teachers responsible for producing video lessons as per the training plan; the training itself should serve as an example of good practices in DL;
4. Based on training materials, piloted within the training, develop Distance Education Toolkit and Learning Videos for Teachers;
5. Provide guidance and advice on developing 40 model video lessons for 20 subjects in school curriculum;
6. Advise on MOPE and REC efforts to support the development and implementation of contextualized distance learning plans, in COVID-19 affected context with special focus on M&E on the plans.

Timeline & Deliverables

The deliverables are expected to be provided within 40 working days between August - November 2020:

Methodology/Activities

Activities that need to be undertaken to ensure quality results are listed in the section above.

Management

The consultant will report to, and work under, the direct supervision of UNICEF Uzbekistan Chief of Education. UNICEF Uzbekistan Education Officer is the main focal point and liaison between the consultant, UNICEF and its partners. The consultant will also closely collaborate with REC, In-service Teachers’ Training Institute named after Avloniy and the

State Inspection on Supervision of Education Quality in all stages of the assignment.

In addition, it is required that the consultant would closely coordinate work with the international consultant responsible for technical support to curriculum reform and initial support to capacity building of national experts in designing and implementing distance learning programme, to ensure a consistent and comprehensive approach.

All outputs of this TOR are subject for the review of UNICEF Education Officer and MOPE Main Department in charge of the organization of educational process in general secondary schools.

Resource requirements and payments

The consultancy will be paid by bank transfer and upon acceptance of deliverables in accordance with the following payment schedule:

40 working days are allocated for accomplishment of all tasks and deliverables within the period of August-November 2020. The Consultant fee will be paid upon successful completion of each deliverable and certification by supervisor. All expenses will be charged against thematic funds (RR) funding.

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

• Advanced university degree (Master’s or PhD) in social sciences, preferably in one of the specialized fields of education.
• Understanding of, and experience in development of distance education programme, and/or Capacity Building experience, including at international level.
• Experience in organizing and conducting online trainings.
• Good analytical and report writing skills.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) 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 be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Procedures and Working Conditions

The assignment will be home-based. UNICEF will ensure the detailed briefing and feedback for the consultant via Zoom and/or other online tools. Relevant UNICEF documents pertaining to the assignment will be provided.

Reservations

UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all, or a portion of, payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if deliverable(s) are incomplete, not finalized, or for failure to meet deadlines. UNICEF will reserve copyright of all developed materials and own primary data collected through this assignment. The materials cannot be published or disseminated without prior written permission of UNICEF. UNICEF will be free to adapt and modify them in the future. The contractor must respect the confidentiality of the information handled during the assignment. Documents and information provided must be used only for the tasks related to these terms of reference.

UNICEF undertakes no liability for taxes, duty or other contribution payable by the consultant on payments made under this contract.

Remarks:

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

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.