Education Specialist

Details

Mission and objectives

La mission fondamentale de l’UNICEF est de promouvoir les droits de chaque enfant, partout, dans tout ce que l’Organisation fait – à travers les programmes, les plaidoyers et les opérations. La stratégie d’équité, soulignant les enfants et familles les plus défavorisés et exclus, traduit cet engagement en faveur des droits des enfants en action. Pour l’UNICEF, l’équité signifie que tous les enfants ont l’opportunité de survivre, de se développer et d’atteindre leurs pleins potentiels, sans discrimination, préjugé ou favoritisme. Dans la mesure où tout enfant a une chance inégale dans la vie – dans une dimension sociale, politique, économique et civique – ses droits sont enfreints. Il y a de plus en plus d’évidences pour la santé, l’éducation et la protection des citoyens les plus défavorisés d’une société – luttant contre les inégalités – non seulement vont donner l’opportunité de réaliser leur potentiel à plus d’enfants, mais aussi vont conduire à une croissance soutenue et à la stabilité des pays. C’est pourquoi la concentration sur l’équité est si vital. Ceci accélère le progrès vers la réalisation des droits humains de tous les enfants, qui est le mandat universel de l’UNICEF, comme décrit dans la Convention relative aux droits des enfants, tout en soutenant le développement équitable des nations.

Context

Improving Access to inclusive quality education for pre-primary and primary school children in the most vulnerable zones in Madagascar With a population of 28.4 million, Madagascar has one of the highest percentages of people living in extreme poverty. It ranks 173rd on the 2021 Global HDI and the key education indicators have declined or stagnated over the past decade. It isn't only difficult to access quality education, but 3/5 of children enrolled in school don't complete their primary education. The Completion rate is 74% in urban vs. 50% in rural areas for the primary level and 49% in urban vs. 19% in rural areas for the lower secondary. School drop-out rates are 23% in urban areas, compared with 77% in rural areas. The deprivations are exacerbated, especially in southern Madagascar, experiencing one of the most severe droughts. In 2021, due to the combined effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and cyclones, the situation worsened even further. Thousands of children previously in school are deprived of education and thus swell the ranks of out-of-school children. Schools do not systematically benefit from the material resources needed to create environments conducive to learning. Only 65% of schools have an acceptable minimum of teaching materials and only 7% of children in public schools have access to textbooks and other supplies. These supplies and services do not generally meet the specific needs of children, including children with disabilities. Despite the government commitments and efforts made, the current situation clearly shows that Madagascar is unlikely to achieve SDGs 4 and 5 by 2030 if it isn't supported. UNICEF continues to work with all partners to address challenges and to enable more children to access education and develop essential skills necessary for them to thrive. However, Education is a priority for Madagascar and it is clearly indicated in the national 2018-2022 Education Sector Plan (ESP) that was extended until Dec 2023. The ESP was endorsed in 2018 by all partners in the Education sector and presents the challenges and strategies to overcome them from preschool through university. The 3 ministries in charge of Education are engaged to increase access, improve quality, equity, and efficiency. With the generalized learning crisis in Madagascar, UNICEF is currently supporting the government to implement the Back to School and Learning strategy. This includes among other interventions, the Teaching at the Right Level approach in 3/8 of UNICEF-supported regions to improve the teaching skills and learning outcomes. All children in the targeted CISCOs receive individual learning material. The aim of this UNV assignment is to ensure that primary school girls and boys from the most excluded groups, are reintegrated and are retained in school after dropping out of school. Parents will be sensitized to enrol their children in school and to pursue their learning. With intensive teacher training, post-training supervision and reinforced by more effective and inclusive teaching strategies and content complemented with the training of the school management committees, these pupils are provided with tutoring classes outside school hours, hence becoming more participative and engaged in classes. Furthermore, the programme ensures that education programmes are planned and continuously monitored to adjust accordingly, and their effectiveness and efficiency are assessed at all levels, including in emergency situations.

Task description

The UNV assigned to the Education Team of the UNICEF Madagascar Office comprised of both international and national staff among whom 7 are deployed in the regional sub-offices. She/He will be mainly engaged in the management of educational development projects focused on access to quality learning including inclusive education and improved teaching skills for most children and adolescent girls and boys. The UNV will be working within a team with a wide range of tasks and will need to demonstrate a proactive attitude of getting things done to make a difference with UNICEF’s support to the government. The UNV will specifically contribute to the Teaching at the Right Level - TaRL approach implementation within the scope of the Back To School and Learning (BTSL) strategy, the knowledge managing of the Programme resources and the quality assurance of donor reports and quality assurance of proposals as well as follow up of resource mobilization efforts. Under the direct supervision of the Education Specialist – Quality of Education and Learning, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: 1. Strengthen the Development and implementation of the TaRL approach (50 %) • Contribute and support the government to strengthen the capacity of teachers to use the TaRL methodology under the BTSL programme to facilitate the appropriation of the contents and pedagogical methods for the deployment of the TaRL throughout the school year and put in place a monitoring mechanism to follow up closely the children facing learning difficulties and likely to drop out. • Provide support to strengthen the quality assurance of training provided according to the TaRL methodology through the development of adequate teaching materials to ensure that all teachers can conduct in-school tutoring activities to facilitate learning processes in addition to the monitoring of post-training supervision of teachers. • Contribute to disseminate TaRL approach to ensure wide knowledge of the teaching methodology (inspectors, pedagogical advisers, teachers, school management), and ensure close follow-up with regional authorities. • Contribute to the development of a communication strategy with families and the community to bring awareness to the opportunities of the programs and to obtain their buy-in and participation in the development of the school plan and activities. • Facilitate the cooperation between JICA Madagascar and the UNICEF country office. • Support capacity building of the School Management Committees (FEFFIs) to ensure the effec-tiveness of the TaRL approach in the learning programmes at the school level, and to relay the benefits of programs’ governance processes to associations, schools, families, and community at large. • Strengthen the system for monitoring pupils’ performance and a system that can capitalize on the lessons learned. 2. Strengthen the knowledge management of the Programme resources • Oversee the knowledge management from the programme activities, including the capturing, sharing and accessibility of education resources. • Provide feedback and support specific knowledge management tasks related to studies and evaluations alongside stakeholders, internal and external, to promote appropriate utilization of the Programme knowledge resources including good practices. 3. Promote the quality assurance process for the preparation of proposals and reports (30 %) • Provide inputs to ensure successful fundraising strategy, plan, and results. • Contribute to the preparation of project-related documents (including budget and expenditure reports). • Consolidate inputs for the Programme reports (annual, mid-year, midterm) as required. 4. Other tasks Whenever required • Contribute to the preparation of the education sector coordination meetings and participate in the related meetings (Joint education sector review; PNPSE; Development partners meetings) • Any task assigned by the Chief of Section. Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to: • Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and taking an active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day); • 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 technical-ly possible.