Arabic and English Curriculum Content Expert (International Remote Consultancy)

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

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.

For every child, Education

BACKGROUND****:

The crisis in Syria has had a dire impact on education in the country. The conflict has significantly increased the proportion of out-of-school Syrian children and youth from 0.9 million (14 percent) in the 2011-12 school year to 2.1 million (36 percent) in the 2017-18 school year. Every year since 2013, around one-third of school-age children and youth in Syria have been out of school and a whole generation of children and youth has received inadequate education. Those children who enroll might not be easily retained due to the quality of the education services provided.

Some 5.9 million school-aged children and youth, including 2.8 million girls, and about 245,000 teachers and other education personnel, including 57,000 females, are in need of education assistance inside Syria. Approximately 3.5 million school-age boys and girls are still in areas with acute need. In many cases, attending school is not possible. Hostilities have resulted in over one-third of schools damaged, destroyed, no longer accessible or occupied for shelter and other purposes.

Children and youth, teachers and other education personnel exhibit psychological distress inflicted by the conflict and are within displacement flows. The conflict has exacerbated existing barriers for children and youth with disabilities to access quality education, while also increasing the rates of some disabilities due to conflict-related injuries and exposure to violence, family separation and displacement.

Poverty and lack of safety and security remain critical barriers to accessing education. With an estimated 83 percent of the population in Syria living in extreme poverty (compared to 12.4 percent in 2007), protracted displacement and limited economic opportunities have forced people to adopt negative coping strategies, including child marriage and child labor due to the loss or lack of sustained livelihoods.

Syria’s children have faced enduring challenges throughout more than nine years of crisis and displacement. Despite this, children have battled to continue their education. The inexorable spread of COVID-19 is yet another obstacle that children and young people must clear in order to reach their full potential and continue their learning pathway.

With the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Syria announced on March 14th, 2020 the closure of all schools and kindergartens, leaving other 3.8 million children and youth enrolled in formal education out of schools. With COVID-19 bringing the closure of schools and enforced isolation, MoE, UNRWA, UNICEF and partners have been working tirelessly across Syria to keep children learning – including assessing a range of temporary learning solutions for distance and remote learning for homebound children in different areas of Syria with varying levels of access to resources. As a result of school closures to slow the spread of COVID-19, and in order to mitigate the loss of learning, during COVID 19, the Ministry of Education, UNRWA and UNICEF are exploring different customized distance learning modalities and follow-up options that take into consideration child profile, education needs, available tools, locational context and limitations where out-of-school children have no access to electricity, internet and landline is disrupted. Nothing can replace an in-person schooling experience, but the sudden crisis has led to an overall recognition and urgency to develop new and diversified remote learning opportunities to increase and maximize access to education through the use of existing educational technologies and resources. Moreover the expansion of access will also, provide alternative modalities to engage students in meaningful and productive learning in remote distant learning modalities or in community centers.

UNICEF and UNRWA will work in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Governorate Departments and Directorates of Education, as well as other partners at the national and sub-national levels, in revising all available learning materials against the new Syrian National curriculum and ensure digitalization and remote accessibility for the implementing home-based and distance learning programmes.

OBJECTIVES OF THE CONSULTANCY****:

Under the close supervision of the Education Specialist-NFE programme based in Damascus Syria, the international consultant is expected to provide technical expertise in reviewing, editing and clearing the complementary learning material that will be developed and endorsed by MoE, UNRWA and UNICEF.

Under the Syria Country Office (SCO) Education Annual Workplan AWP 2020 and AWP 2021, the Consultant will provide technical assistance in the technical review of the material developed by UNRWA and MoE the following areas:

1. Complementary worksheets for supporting in-school children at risk of dropping out in retention programmes
2. New Curriculum B content. The material supports the implementation of certified accelerated learning programme by MoE.
3. New 'self-standing' Supportive Learning Material for out-of-school children. The material will be used to support learning for out-of-school children who will not have access to formal education because in older age or absence of access to school.
4. Life Skills manual developed by the Ministry of Education to complement formal learning
5. Develop Final report in Arabic and English that documents the process of revision, criteria for selection and final recommendations for all the material to be revised

During the consultancy period the consultant will be requested to regularly communicate, recommend and alert UNICEF, UNRWA and MoE teams to ensure a harmonized approach to the content revisions.

The review will be conducted against specific quality and pedagogical criteria that will be discussed and agree in coordination with UNICEF SCO and RO aligned with rights-based frameworks and UN values, thus ensuring content, content design and pedagogical approach is human rights based, non-contentious, and promotes child friendly approaches and initiatives, child’s psychosocial wellbeing and resilience, gender sensitiveness and equality of women, girls and those with various types of disabilities and reflects diversity in history, culture, language and religion of culturally dynamic societies.

LOCATION:

On-site working days: none

Off-site working days: 160 days

DURATION:

The selected consultant/institution will work for the period of 11 months from 1 December 2020 to 30 October 2021) upon signature of the consultancy contract. It is envisaged: 160 workdays remotely. The deadline for submission of final deliverables to UNICEF is 20 October 2021.

SUPERVISOR:

The consultant will be supervised and report to the UNICEF Education Specialist NFE with regular de-briefing with the UNICEF Education Chief the Syria Country Office about the progress of the consultancy.

DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT:

PAYMENT SCHEDULE:

The contract fee shall be paid in nine instalments, upon completion and approval of deliverables by UNICEF as per the below schedule:

• 12.5% of the contract fee upon satisfactory completion of Deliverable 1.1
• 12.5% of the contract fee upon satisfactory completion of Deliverable 1.2
• 12.5% of the contract fee upon satisfactory completion of Deliverable 2.1
• 12.5% of the contract fee upon satisfactory completion of Deliverable 2.2
• 19% of the contract fee upon satisfactory completion of Deliverable 3.1
• 16% of the contract fee upon satisfactory completion of Deliverable 3.2
• 6% of the contract fee upon satisfactory completion of Deliverable 4.1
• 3% of the contract fee upon satisfactory completion of Deliverable 4.2
• 6% of the contract fee upon satisfactory completion of Deliverable 5

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

1. Academic Qualifications:

• At least an advanced degree, and preferably a Doctoral degree in Education;

2. Years of experience:

• Academic and relevant field expertise (minimum 8 years) in education quality component related to curriculum development and revision against learning outcomes
• Experience/expertise in both qualitative and quantitative research
• Knowledge about national education policies related to curriculum development
• Demonstrated knowledge of curriculum revision and/or experience with similar activity;
• Strong analytical skills and report writing skills;
• Excellent communications skills, in particular cross-cultural communication skills;
• Experience and knowledge of Syria country context and region in general, and the socio-cultural, economic and education systems in particular are an asset.

3. Competencies:

• Computer and statistical skills for the capture and analysis of data, evaluation report preparation, and professional quality presentation
• Capacity to establish and maintain productive relations with a range of actors from different national and cultural backgrounds
• Excellent skills in written English and Arabic, ability to write clear and concise reports and communicate effectively
• Excellent analytical skills and a constructive approach to problem solving
• Ability to deliver outputs by agreed deadlines – sometimes at very short notice.

4. Language requirements:

• Excellent communication and interaction skills, both written and oral in English and Arabic, with a variety of stakeholders at all levels.
• Ability to develop local language tools and tools with proven ability to engage and elicit quality responses from a variety of stakeholders.

Qualified candidates are requested to submit:

1. Cover letter/application
2. Financial quote as lump sum for professional fees
3. CV
4. Examples of previous, relevant work as applicable
5. Proposed methodology/approach to managing the project
6. At least 3 Referees

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.

View our competency framework at

http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

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.

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.