Develop accessible reading materials for the blind, visually impaired, deaf, and hard of hearing for primary school children, Kampala, Uganda, 4 Months

Contract

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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, a Fair Chance

Uganda is one of the over 190 countries and territories around the world where we work to overcome the obstacles that poverty, violence, disease, and discrimination place in a child’s path. Together with the Government of Uganda and partners we work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, the objectives of the Uganda National Development Plan, and the planned outcomes of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework.

Visit this link for more information on Uganda Country Office https://www.unicef.org/uganda/

How can you make a difference?

The Uganda National Household Survey estimates that the number of persons with disabilities constitutes 7.2% of the population, which is equivalent to 2.3 million persons with disabilities. Out of these it is estimated that 34% are visually impaired and 20% are hearing impaired. An Out-of-School children study, 2013 indicates that only 11% of the children with disabilities attend any form of education.

Uganda introduced a National Policy on Disability in 2006 and ratified the UN CRPD in 2008. There is national commitment to improve the access for persons with disabilities to information and education as stated in the National Development Plan, 2015-2020. UNICEF has supported the Ministry of Education and Sports of Uganda in developing the National Inclusive Education Policy that is hoped to address most of the learning needs of children with Disabilities. Despite this regulatory framework, other laws, policies and initiatives, persons with disabilities still face great difficulties in accessing basic infrastructure, employment and access to education and information services. There are limited opportunities that take full advantage of the use of Information, Communication and Accessible Technologies, in particular educational resources.

ICT has been progressively introduced in Uganda through development and implementation of national policy frameworks. In 2006 the government launched a National ICT Policy Framework that envisioned Uganda ‘s national development broadly and human resource development. More specifically it outlines how this ICT policy framework will be achieved and sustained through efficient application of digital literacy. The Uganda vision 2040 acknowledges ICT's potential to accelerate development, create jobs, and increase productivity. Accordingly, the development of ICT infrastructure has been identified by multiple sectors as foundational to the national digitization agenda. While the Ministry of Education and Sports has not yet adopted a policy on Information Technology Infrastructure, the draft Education Digital Agenda Strategy, the Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) 2021-2025 and the ICT in Education Sector Policy, recognizes that the electronic delivery of services to the public needs to be high on the agenda of the government.

Persons with disability in Uganda face challenges of non-availability of teaching and training resources in accessible formats. This is due to limited capacities and funding for government and other key stakeholders including teachers, information professionals, publishing companies and Disabled Persons Organizations (DPOs) to ensure access, reproduction, distribution, and creation of information in accessible formats.

To address this gap UNICEF and UNESCO in close cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Sports, Kyambogo University, local and national organizations including persons with disabilities jointly implemented a 2 years pilot project which advanced 1) an enabling environment for the use of Accessible Technology to ensure Inclusive Education and Access to Information and 2) developed capacity for increased use of Assistive Technology to ensure Inclusive Education and access, reproduction, distribution and creation of educational material in accessible formats.

The primary objective of this programme is to provide increased access to Information for persons with disabilities and educational materials through the use of Assistive Technology to ensure Inclusive Education in order to enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life.

This consultancy is specifically for a) development of accessible (multi-media) materials for visually impaired/blind and hearing impaired/deaf children at primary school level in the four core subjects taught at P.4–P.6; and b) for capacity building of teachers, publishers and other stakeholders on the use and production of such materials acknowledging the global standards but customized to the local context.

The assignment will compose of the following areas:

1. Conduct a quick appraisal of the desk review of the national curriculum related reading materials in Science and mathematics for the low vision, blind, deaf, and hard of hearing for primary school children and produce a status and gap analysis report.
2. In collaboration with UNICEF, Ministry of Education, National Curriculum Centre, Disability Organizations and publishers design and adapt Science and Mathematics text books for Primary Four (P.4) and Primary Six (P.6) into EPUB/other similar formats using multi-media; large print for low vision, audio for those who are blind and sign language tagged with text for those who are deaf/ hard of hearing (all copy rights should leave with the MoES) for primary school children aligning to the universal principles on adaption of Assessable Digital Textbook’s.
3. Pre-Test and refine the materials within the contract period to ensure usability. Pre-testing should be done in the 20 model primary schools.
4. Develop teachers’ guides to accompany each of the materials adapted
5. Assist UNICEF in identification any other most suitable technology for the project use a way from what has already been distributed to schools.
6. Train teachers in the 20 model primary schools and other key stakeholders (CCTs, Inspectors, Tutors, MoES, Kyambogo University, parents, and learners) in use of the above adapted materials
7. Orient publishers in Uganda on the global standards and production of similar materials and refer to the Marrakech Treaty.

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

• Demonstrated practical experience in working models in developing similar materials
• Advanced skills in technology and material production
• Experience in working with children with disabilities
• Understanding of Ugandan education system and its challenges
• In-depth knowledge of Uganda’s context
• Experience in working with multiple stakeholders

• Excellent facilitation, research, drafting, presentation, and communication skills

• In addition, the selected organization should be willing to undertake field visits and interact with different stakeholders

• Fluency in English is required.

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.

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are...

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

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:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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.