Consultant, Technical support for the implementation of the School Success Paths Strategy with rural/riparian communities in Maranhão and Amapá, Manaus, Brazil

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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.

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Background & Rationale

Education is a fundamental right and a decisive tool for the development of people and societies. The increasing complexity of the human and social development of the world's population has reflected in the gradual extension of the duration of mandatory education cycles within national education systems around the world.

Currently, primary education is mandatory in Brazil. Nevertheless, there are still gaps in inequality of the access to quality education, which reflects high dropout rates, evasion during the transition from primary to secondary education, and, especially, dropout in rural contexts. When analyzing the profile of children who are out of school in Brazil, two age groups draw attention negatively. The groups most affected by school exclusion are 4 and 5 year olds (1.1 million), preschool age, and 15-17 year olds (1.7 million), who should be in high school. In all, it is estimated that Brazil has 3,846,109 children and adolescents out of school. These numbers present a challenge for countries that, with the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals, pledged to ensure universal access and completion of secondary education for the year 2030.

When we focus on the analysis of rural education, the picture is more challenging.

Even though it formally has more than 5 million students enrolled, more than 57 thousand schools and about 355 thousand teachers, rural education in Brazil has an alarming scenario. Despite the fact that the vast majority of schools in the countryside work in their own buildings, the structural conditions still leave much to be desired, especially in high schools. Of the 2,244 rural schools with high school enrollments: 56.7% have computer labs; 52.5% have libraries; 49.3% have satellite dishes, for example, important equipment for students in this teaching segment. Only about 30% have water supplied by the public network and only 5% of the schools have basic sanitation. 13% of the schools do not even have electricity and, of those that do, only 34% have internet (24% broadband). In the Legal Amazon, which faces even more intense logistical challenges, this scenario is even worse.

Besides the structural problems, Rural Education still has less trained teachers, including in multigrade teaching, and less access to all stages of education, to flow correction/education acceleration programs, and to contextualized teaching materials.

When we analyze the availability of secondary education in Brazil, we again observe the discrepancies between geographic location (rural/urban) and Brazilian regions and states. In the rural context, the picture gets worse when we notice the divergences between enrollments in the early years of elementary school, where there are generally schools in small communities, while in the other stages (final years and high school), there are no schools in the communities, a fact associated with social, historical, cultural and economic issues.

In the case of the rural context, approximately 1/3 of the students do not finish basic education. This can occur due to problems related to the school structure, the curriculum, questions about teaching and learning, academic performance, relating school content to life, geographic transportation from home to school, teacher training, etc. In addition, it is important to highlight the entry of young people into the labor market, making it difficult for them to stay in school, and factors of social and economic order.

Within the framework of the 2017-2021 Country Program objectives, UNICEF seeks to strengthen the government's ability to ensure the most democratic and effective implementation of these existing legislations, as well as to think of even more complete mechanisms, especially through the UNICEF SEAL strategy, present in over 2000 municipalities in the country.

On the other hand, UNICEF has been developing a Strategy named “Successful School Paths”, which aims to face the culture of school failure, age-grade distortion and, on the edge, school exclusion. One of the main ways to achieve these goals is to engage the school community in how to connect school pedagogical proposals to the learning needs of children and adolescents. Thinking about the importance of the territory and the cultural diversity of Brazil, the participatory methodologies, flexible and adapted to the participation of students, teachers and the rest of the community of the educational territory is the best way to achieve this result effectively. The strategy proposal still has a development flow with the following steps: Diagnosis, Planning, Adherence and Development.

Purpose

The purpose of this consultancy is the technical orientation in terms of pedagogical and anthropological awareness on the specific aspects that the implementation of the School Success Paths Strategy with different rural/riparian populations for the TSE local WG in the states of Maranhão and Amapá.

Duty Station: Manaus

Expected results:

The following key end results will be supported by the consultant during the six-month contract:

  • Support the participatory diagnosis on the current scenario of rural/riparian School Education in the states of Amapá and Maranhão. This diagnosis is under responsibility of the State Education Secretaries in collaboration with the pertinent local instances, such as rural/riparian School Education Managers, Ethnic-Educational Territory Management Committees, State rural/riparian Education Council, the rural/riparian Organizations and the rural/riparian Support Organizations. Support the State Networks in the improvement/construction of instruments for this diagnosis phase;
  • Analyze and support the construction and/or technical review of the actions plans proposed by the State Networks;

MAIN ACTIVITIES

  • Support the review/adaptation/construction of instruments and plans to guide effective listening of adolescents and school communities;
  • Organize a library of documents relevant to the networks, such as: legal frameworks, UNICEF background materials, relevant academic documents, etc;
  • Build workshops/dialogues to raise awareness, study/enhance legal and theoretical frameworks to boost cross-cutting technical debate among members of TSE Working Groups in the states;
  • Participate in the UNICEF Seal and the School Success Paths agendas when requested, making every effort to approach and familiarize with the overall progress of these strategies in the states of Amapá and Maranhão;
  • Identify gaps, assess, verify, and map emerging education needs according to programmatic commitments of UNICEF Country Program;
  • Ensure integration of UNICEF’s School Success Paths strategy methodology priorities in needs assessment, analysis, planning, monitoring and response;

1. Expected result: Integration with the current scenario of TSE's articulation in Amapá and Maranhão, and planning of the Consultancy's activities and results;

2. Expected result: Support the realization of Diagnosis Workshops of the Education Networks of Amapá, and Maranhão in what concerns rural/riparian school education and support the production of the participative diagnosis from these Workshops;

3. Expected result: Support the realization of Planning Workshops of the Education Networks of Amapá, and Maranhão regarding rural/riparian school education and support the production of the plan (and the production of PPPs if applicable) from these Workshops;

4. Expected result: Finalization of the Consultancy with an indication of the effectiveness of the implementation of the School Success Paths to the rural/riparian school context, potential for the future, its suitability to the reality, and the rigor with the initial project. Raise possible doubts, difficulties and learning in the period.

Deliverables:

1.1. Deliverable: Construction and agreement with the Consultancy Supervision of a work plan for the 6 months of consultancy containing: (1) a list of which tools to create or adapt for the formation of the TSE WGs in the States; (2) the construction of a library to support the work of the TSE in the States in the terms already presented in this ToR; (3) proposal of an agenda of activities with each educational network.

1.2. Duration: 30 days

1.3. Deadline: End of 1st month

1.4. Payment (15% of the contract)

2.1. Deliverable: a) Review, adapt and/or build instrumentals and plans to guide effective listening to adolescents and school communities; b) Hold workshops and dialogues with the TSE WGs in the states with the aim of intensifying mobilization and strengthening the networks' capacities in advancing TSE for the focus populations; c) Review the processes and the product of the diagnosis of each network and present which aspects we positively influenced and which were bottlenecks

2.2. Duration: 60 days

2.3. Deadline: End of 3rd month

2.4. Payment (35% of the contract)

3.1. Deliverable: a) Review, adapt and/or build instruments to guide the planning phase of the TSE work in the States and the process of building PPPs with intense community participation; b) Hold workshops and dialogues with the TSE WGs in the states with the aim of intensifying mobilization and strengthening the networks' capacities in advancing TSE for the focus populations; c) Review the processes and the product of each network's planning and present which aspects we positively influenced and which were bottlenecks

3.2. Duration: 60 days

3.3. Deadline: End of 5th month

3.4. Payment (35% of the contract)

4.1. Deliverable: Summary end of consultancy report detailing: (1) Situation of children and adolescents in the rural/riparian context with data variables as specified by UNICEF; (2) summary of accomplishments achieved during the consultancy; (3) summary of remaining challenges; (4) summary of recommended next steps for UNICEF’s consideration. (5 to 15 pages)

4.2. Duration: 30 days

4.3. Deadline: End of 6th month

4.4. Payment (15% of the contract)

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

  • In accordance with UNICEF priorities, the supervisor and consultant will discuss and consolidate the Work Plan, establishing the products and competencies, which will be evaluated during and at the end of the consulting process. The deliverables reports shall be subject to review and approval by UNICEF after delivery by the Consultant. If needed, revisions and alterations may be requested by UNICEF related to quality and technical depth parameters. Only after final clearance from the UNICEF Brazil, will the payment be processed.
  • Activity reports should be submitted with frequency lists of meetings and/or events, minutes of meetings with referrals agreed, photographic record with permission to use image according to UNICEF standard and life histories;
  • If the product's delivery date is at the weekend or on a public holiday, it must be delivered on the next following business day;
  • UNICEF reserves the right to terminate the contract and/or withhold all or a portion of payment if the rules and the regulations regarding confidentiality, ethics and procedures of UNICEF and the partners are not followed, the performance is unsatisfactory, or work/deliverables are incomplete, not delivered or fail to meet the deadlines.

Technical background, and experience required

  • Bachelor degree or equivalent in any of the following areas: social sciences, anthropology, education or related fields;
  • Professional experience in working with public policies and programmes of at least 2 (two) years;
  • Professional experience in working with rural/riparian school education of at least 2 (two) years;
  • Good knowledge of state and municipal governments and civil society organizations;
  • Experience in working among rural/riparian population;
  • Ability to work with others in a team environment;
  • Ability to conduct work in groups and at institutional level;
  • Affinity with UNICEF working methods;
  • Fluency in Portuguese. Knowledge in English and/or Spanish is an asset;
  • Living in and/or being familiar with the context of Amapá is an asset.

Key competences

  • Builds and maintains partnerships
  • Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
  • Drive to achieve results for impact
  • Innovates and embraces change
  • Manages ambiguity and complexity
  • Thinks and acts strategically
  • Works collaboratively with others

Core Values

  1. Care
  2. Respect
  3. Integrity
  4. Trust
  5. Accountability

General Conditions: Procedures and Logistics

  • Consultant will work from home using own equipment and stationery. UNICEF will provide office space for consultative meetings when needed;
  • No contract may commence unless the contract is signed by both UNICEF and the consultant;
  • Consultants will not have supervisory responsibilities or authority on UNICEF budget;

  • No travels are planned, but if the need arises, expenses related to these travels will be covered by UNICEF and paid to the Consultant as per UNICEF travel rules and regulations;

  • The technical support is the consultant’s responsibility;

  • The scope of activities is subject to the availability of resources.

Financial Proposal

  • Costs indicated are estimated. Final rate shall follow “best value for money” principle, i.e., achieving the desired outcome at the lowest possible fee.
  • A financial proposal including the fee for the assignment based on the deliverables and number of days must be submitted. Consultants and individual contractors are asked to stipulate all-inclusive fees, including lump sum travel and subsistence costs, as applicable.
  • The payment will be based on submission of agreed deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

Insurance and health coverage

  • The contractor is fully responsible for arranging, at his or her own expenses, such life, health and other forms of insurance covering the term of the contract as he or she considers appropriate.
  • The contractor is not eligible to participate in the life or health insurance schemes available to UNICEF and United Nations staff members.

Restrictions

  • Consultants may not receive training at the expense of UNICEF. Notwithstanding, must complete the applicable mandatory trainings.
  • In case of government officials, the contract cannot be issued without prior written clearance by the Government​, or unless on leave without pay.

UNICEF is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

Added 2 years ago - Updated 2 years ago - Source: unicef.org