Development of ECE curriculum framework and classroom-based assessment Consultancy, Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, 24 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 vision.

In the Pacific we work in Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu: These 14 Pacific island countries are home to 2.3 million people, including 1.2 million children and youth, living on more than 660 islands and atolls stretching across 17.2 million square kilometers of the Pacific Ocean, an area comparable to the combined size of the United States of America and Canada. Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu are classified as Fragile States according to World Bank/OECD criteria.

All 14 Pacific Island countries and territories have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, but only a third are on track with reporting obligations. Explore the different areas of our work in the link provided here www.unicef.org/pacificislands.

Background of Assignment:

FSM has expressed a national commitment to make early childhood education (ECE) compulsory by 2024 for all 5-year-old children across the country. To prepare for this, FSM is expecting to review and revise ECE policy, set up inter-agency coordination for ECE, develop national ECE curriculum framework and implement state specific ECE curricula based on the current draft national ECE curriculum standards and benchmarks, build capacity for ECE at state level, promote teacher development, repair existing classrooms, equip new ECE classes with learning materials, develop and implement a sustainable school feeding strategy, support transportation in areas where access to ECE is challenging, improve ECE monitoring, implement health monitoring and screening, and develop and implement policies, guidelines and programmes for parent support and community engagement. As a federal system, FSM has 4 states, each of which have their own constitution, language, and education system, including ECE curriculum. The State Department of Education (SDoE) in each of the four states is responsible for developing the ECE curriculum while the National Department of Education (NDoE) provides the overall curriculum standards and benchmarks. With the intent to continue to maintain the distinct identities and systems of the individual states, there is now an interest in establishing a national curriculum framework, early learning standards and early learning assessment guidance that would establish core expectations and guidance for ECE in FSM. This work will ensure minimum common alignment of services for all children across FSM, while still ensuring the flexibility needed for locally relevant adaptations in each state. All 4 states of FSM have their own ECE curriculum at present, with some being under review. A Pacific Regional ECE Curriculum Review exercise started in Q4 of 2022 and will also review all ECE curricula and learning standards/assessment guidance across the Pacific, including the 4 states of FSM, with an intent to identify common trends, challenges and good practices in ECE across the Pacific. Essentially, there are a variety of available reflections and analyses of ECE curricula, early learning standards and early learning assessment in the FSM. These are valuable resources but there remains a need to define and implement a participatory, consultative and technically robust process to develop a national ECE curriculum framework, early learning standards and early learning assessment guidance that draw from the individual strengths and implementation experience of each state, while also outlining a clear common national vision for core expectations for ECE across all states.

How can you make a difference?

The purpose of this consultancy is to strengthen quality and relevance of early childhood education across FSM by defining a national ECE curriculum framework which is inclusive of early learning standards that set core common expectations while still encouraging flexibility to context and proposing context-relevant guidance and systems for early learning assessment in FSM.

The consultant is expected to provide technical support to the outlined tasks, while ensuring that the process is led and owned by the FSM, working collaboratively with and under guidance from NDOE, maximizing use of FSM-based experts (e.g. ECE and other relevant specialists) and stakeholders as relevant and promoting a participatory and consultative process that engages not only national- but state-level perspectives.

Please refer to the TOR for further information on the deliverables and the timelines.

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

• An advanced university degree in early childhood education, early childhood development, education, social sciences and there relevant disciplines
• Minimum of 8 years of working experience in early childhood development and education, including locally-relevant ECE curriculum, Learning Standards and Early Learning Assessment.
• Experience in Pacific Island countries preferred.
• Demonstrated familiarity with Early Learning Assessment, and diverse, relevant approaches to the same.
• Excellent writing skills and ability to synthesize complex information and issues.
• Strong analytical and conceptual thinking.
• Ability to organize and plan complex work following the established timeframes.
• Ability to plan, coordinate, manage and facilitate high-level meetings.
• Previous experience working for UNICEF or another international organization an asset.
• Ability to work effectively with others.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

Applicants are requested to submit a technical proposal explaining the methodology for undertaking the consultancy. Please submit a separate financial offer along with your application. The financial proposal should be a lump sum amount for all the deliverables but should show a break down for the following:

• Monthly / Daily fees– based on the deliverables in the Terms of Reference
• Travel (economy air ticket where applicable to take up assignment if in-country support is required, as well as any in-country travel)
• Living allowance for international consultants
• Miscellaneous- to cover visa, health insurance (including medical evacuation for international consultants), communications, and other costs.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).

To view our competency framework, please visit here

Remarks:

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

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.

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.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.