Education Officer

Details

Mission and objectives

UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. UNICEF is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and strives to establish children's rights as enduring ethical principles and international standards of behaviour towards children. UNICEF insists that the survival, protection and development of children are universal development imperatives that are integral to human progress. UNICEF mobilizes political will and material resources to help countries, particularly developing countries, ensure a "first call for children" and to build their capacity to form appropriate policies and deliver services for children and their families. UNICEF is committed to ensuring special protection for the most disadvantaged children – victims of war, disasters, extreme poverty, all forms of violence and exploitation, and those with disabilities. UNICEF responds in emergencies to protect the rights of children. In coordination with United Nations partners and humanitarian agencies, UNICEF makes its unique facilities for rapid response available to its partners to relieve the suffering of children and those who provide their care. UNICEF is non-partisan and its cooperation is free of discrimination. In everything it does, the most disadvantaged children and the countries in greatest need have priority. UNICEF aims, through its country programmes, to promote the equal rights of women and girls and to support their full participation in the political, social and economic development of their communities. UNICEF works with all its partners towards the attainment of the sustainable human development goals adopted by the world community and the realization of the vision of peace and social progress enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.

Context

The UN volunteer Education Officer will be working under the direct supervision of the Education Specialist, and the overall guidance of the Chief of Education to support the Education Section to provide the Ministry of Education (MED) with technical assistance in its efforts to improve access and strengthen student learning outcomes at the pre-primary and primary level in Angola. Despite recent progress in social sectors, access to quality education remains a challenge in Angola. Only 51.9% of girls/women and 80.9% of boys above 15 years old can read or write. The literacy rate is the percentage of adults over 15 who can read and write basic text in Portuguese, and the last Census for Angola reveals that the literacy rate among the adult population is 66%, which means only, one in three Angolans is illiterate. This is the third year of implementation of the four-year UNICEF Angola Country Programme (CP) of cooperation 2020-2023. The overall goal of the CP is to support the Government of Angola to meet its commitment to respect, protect and fulfil children’s rights in line with international conventions and standards. It is guided by the principles of children’s rights, equity, gender equality, inclusion, and resilience, and will support evidence-based, integrative and innovative programming. The Country Programme (CP) is aligned with the national priorities articulated in the National Development Plan (PDN 2018-2022) and with the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF 2020-2022). These frameworks are in the process of being reviewed and updated, and will resume the vision for all girls and boys in Angola, especially the most marginalized, including those with disabilities and from poor households, to realize their rights. The CP takes an integrated, convergent and lifecycle-based approach with the following components: Outcome 1: early childhood (0-5 years); Outcome 2: school age children (6-18 years); Outcome 3: decentralized support to social services; and Outcome 4: programme effectiveness. The UN Volunteer Education Officer position will provide critical support for the implementation, monitoring and systematization of education activities under Outcome 2 (supporting children and adolescents 6-18) of the CP, in 4 key areas: 1. Upstream interventions in quality and inclusive education; 2. Curricula development and educational material improvement, including alternative education 3. Knowledge management and capacity building of education stakeholders in quality and inclusive education; 4. Monitoring of education intervention, including Education in Emergencies; The Education Officer will work within the Education Section and alongside other programme sections which include WASH, Child Survival and Development, Child Protection, Social Policy, Communication, Social and Behaviour Change, and Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. Beyond the Ministry of Education, other partners of the Education programme include Ministries of Youth and Sports, Labour and Social Welfare, Social Action, Family and Gender Equality, provincial and municipal authorities, UN Agencies, NGOs, and private sector donors.

Task description

Under the overall supervision of the Chief Education Section and the daily supervision of the Education Specialist, the national UN Volunteer Education Officer will undertake the following tasks: • Engagement and support to coordination efforts for the implementation of various interventions with central and local authorities of education and other relevant stakeholders; • Technical support for follow up and quality review of deliverables of ongoing interventions on quality and inclusive education; • Support capacity building interventions for education sector in various areas: planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, school management, among others; • Support knowledge management of ongoing research, studies and surveys; • Support efficient monitoring processes to measure key development and humanitarian activities and results; • Assist with the planning for field missions and provide relevant technical, logistical, and administrative support where needed; support the drafting of mission reports and help follow-up on agreed action points; • Provide other technical, logistical, and administrative assistance as needed; Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to: • Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark IVD); • Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country; • Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities; • Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.; • Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers; • Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible. Results/Expected Output: 1. Technical assistance provided for upstream work in quality and inclusive education: a) Support the development of policy and regulatory framework at school level; b) Support the implementation of the Policy on Special Education with Inclusive Education perspective. 2. Support provided for downstream interventions in quality and inclusive education, as follows: a) Support given for the programme management and financial oversight of education activities by ensuring HACT compliance through field visits and programme and financial monitoring, donor reporting, management of supplies, etc. b) Technical assistance provided for deliverables and results monitoring of regular education interventions and Education in Emergencies, including drought, COVID-19, etc. 3. Technical assistance given to curricula development and educational material improvement, including, but not limited to: a) Support and follow up of the review and technical and field validation processes of Child Friendly Schools Manuals (Student-centred pedagogy, WASH in Schools, School Management Committees) with a gender and skills perspective; b) Support for the development, improvement and technical and field validation processes of accelerated and foundational catch-up learning initiatives of MoE, at national and decentralised levels. 4. Support provided for knowledge management of quality and inclusive education interventions, including: a) Ongoing research, studies and surveys, such as the Regional Mapping on Disability and Inclusive Education, Mapping of situation of youth with disabilities around learning to earning, Teacher Allocation Study; b) Establishment and functioning of technical working groups responsible for the different ongoing studies and surveys; c) Capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of partners/stakeholders at national and decentralised level on quality and inclusive education, including planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, school management, among others; d) Support documentation of best and cutting-edge practices for internal and donor reporting, and build the capacity of partners in programmatic monitoring and reporting.