Early Childhood Development Consultant - Beirut

Job Description

The purpose of this consultancy is to provide technical support to the ECD committee in the development of a national ECD policy framework, implementation plan, and monitoring and evaluation plan.

The ECD consultant will specifically engage on the early childhood development committee and will:

- Review existing ECD policies, strategies, and plans in the country and internationally, and identify best practices that can inform the development of a national ECD policy framework. - Facilitate a consultative process with relevant stakeholders to develop a national ECD policy framework, implementation plan, and monitoring and evaluation plan. - Provide technical assistance to the ECD committee in the development of a communication strategy for the dissemination of the national ECD policy framework. - Actively guide, supervise and steer the ECD content with the committee members to ensure material developed respond to the different areas for development for a child. - Develop the ECD component within the curriculum with the committee with the support of partners. - Provide technical input on ECD content based on best practices and evidence. - Actively read all relevant Nurturing Care Framework material (handbook and practice guide) to familiarize herself/himself with the NCF approach; and ensure the components included on ECD are in-line with the Nurturing Care Framework. - Actively engage in the curriculum review process and provide technical input. - Coordinate with the Curriculum Development Experts and Curriculum Development Coordinators in securing the optimal conditions for the ECD/ECE curriculum revision kick-off, namely from content relevant and content design perspectives. - Develop and implement coordinated and integrated Early Childhood Development/Early Childhood Education Structure and Policy. - Define Early Childhood Development/Early Childhood Education quality standards. - Develop Early Childhood Development/Early Childhood Education monitoring framework and system. - Draw on the latest trends in instructional methods, educational technology in the Early Childhood Development/Early Childhood Education. - Provide technical support for the development of Early Childhood Development/Early Childhood Education’s staff motivation mechanisms, system and processes.

Expected Deliverables:

The consultant will be expected to produce the following deliverables:

- An inception report outlining the proposed methodology and work plan for the consultancy. - A review report documenting the findings of the review of existing ECD policies, strategies, and plans. - A draft of national ECD policy framework, implementation plan, and monitoring and evaluation plan. - A final national ECD policy framework, implementation plan, and monitoring and evaluation plan incorporating feedback from stakeholders. - A monitoring and evaluation framework for the implementation of the national ECD policy framework. - A capacity building plan for the ECD committee and other relevant stakeholders. - Developing the piloting materials for ECD program and a monitoring framework to monitor the piloting process.

Key Working Relationships:

CERD President and IRC ECD Senior Technical Quality Manager.

Qualifications

- PHD in education, special education, or other social paramedical field with special focus on early childhood development, early childhood education and curriculum design. - Project Management degree or certification is preferred.

Previous Experience

- At least 10 years of « professional » and / or « higher education » experience in early childhood development, early childhood education and curriculum design. - Proficiency assessing and designing curriculum for early childhood education. - Published work in academic journals. - Proven experience with donor-funded projects is strongly preferred. - Solid Knowledge and experience ECD, including nurturing care framework and care for child development approach. - Solid knowledge and experience in Preschool Learning Foundations, and Curriculum Frameworks. - Solid Experience of ECD/ECE programs in national and international context. - Proven experience with public sector is a plus. - Proven experience in facilitating consultative processes with diverse stakeholders. - Excellent analytical, writing, and communication skills. - Familiarity with the political and institutional context of the country. - Experience in capacity building and training.

Languages

Fluency in written and spoken Arabic, English and French.

Behavioral Skills

- Timeliness and ability to deliver under tight deadlines. - Ability to cope with pressure and mitigate challenges. - Ability to convey complex information in a structured manner. - Proven ability to work with a working team of diversified backgrounds. - Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment. - Strong analytical and presentation skills. - Strong interpersonal, teamwork and communication skills.

Technical and computer skills

- Understanding of qualitative and quantitative approaches in educational research. - Ability to design, implement and evaluate educational projects. - Digitally savvy with advanced knowledge of MS Office.