Education and Adolescent Development Officer

Contract

This is a UNV National Specialist contract. This kind of contract is known as National UN Volunteer. It is normally only for nationals. More about UNV National Specialist 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.

UNICEF in China promotes policies that better deliver on children's rights. We have about 100 staff members working with the Government of China and other partners to ensure that the benefits of the country's development reach the most impoverished children. And we share what we learn with others.

The UNICEF Education Section works with the Government of China, local partners and com-munities to provide the country’s most disadvantaged children with quality learning opportunities. We support government to strengthen China’s education system so that it addresses the needs of the most excluded and vulnerable children, as well as ensure that girls and boys have equal access to opportunities. We also promote nurturing environments to support children develop into well-rounded individuals and facilitate smoother transition from school to work.

The 2021- 2025 education program also embraces key strategic shifts with a renewed focus on upstream engagement and policy impact. It will place greater emphasis on evidence-based policy and research, advocacy for children’s rights and adaptation of international evidence to China’s context (and vice versa). There will also be a shift from child-friendly schools to child-friendly education systems and scaling-up of adolescent programs, particularly around integrating transferable/life skills into the technical and vocation education & training (TVET) re-form process, expanding alternative learning pathways for in and out-of-school adolescents in China, support adolescent skills development, youth-led innovations, entrepreneurship and employability, and promote adolescents’ participation.

Under the guidance of Chief Education and Education Specialist, as well as the primary supervision of Education Officer, the UN Volunteers will undertake the following tasks:

Support the development and digitization and test the life skills learning materials for vocational institutions in selected provinces/counties and promote national scale-up • Work closely with MoE partner, project experts and leading institutions, coordinate and quality-assure the review and modification of life skills materials against the agreed timetable; • Provide technical and operational support to MoE partner and project institutions, including but not limited to organization of expert review and consultations, sharing best practice and principles of UNICEF and global life skills curriculum development, leverage international consultancy(via UNICEF global network or external consultancy); • Support the recruitment of potential international consultants for the learning material verification and manage the agreed key deliverables; • Coordinate with MoE partner, technical vendor(s) and leading institutions to co-develop the digitalization plan of life skills learning materials, make sure the digital platform in place and the first batches of digitalized materials against the plan available; • Support the recruitment of potential technical vendor for micro-course development and man-age the agreed key deliverables.

Support the development of adolescent life skills framework and out-of-school adolescents study • Work closely with government partners, research teams and programme Monitor& Evaluation(M&E) consultant, coordinate and quality-assure the key deliverables of the relevant studies against the agreed timetable; • Organize regular task force meetings, provide support on sharing and interpreting global framework, research guide and open statistics of UNICEF-produced resources, leverage international consultancy(via UNICEFglobal network or external consultancy); • Support the recruitment of potential international consultants for life skills framework.

Furthermore, UNVs are encouraged to:
• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and taking an active part in UNV activities (for instance, IVD celebration events);
• Get acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country; • Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking; • Contribute news and articles on field experiences and submit them to UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.; • Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly arrived UNV volunteers; • Promote online volunteering and encourage individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering Service whenever technically feasible.

Results/Expected Output:

• As an active UNICEF team member, efficient, timely, responsive, client-friendly and high-quality support rendered to UNICEF and its beneficiaries in the accomplishment of her/his functions, including: Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated and documented in all activities throughout the assignment • A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism during the assignment, such as re-porting on project activities supported, number of beneficiaries enageged and capacities de-veloped. • Adolescent life skills:
 life skills framework development deliverables achieved against the agreed timetable  life skills learning materials developed, digitalized and tested and promotion for national scale-up • Out-of-school adolescent initiatives:  Out-of-school study deliverables achieved against the agreed timetable

☒ Accountability ☒ Adaptability and Flexibility ☒ Building Trust ☒ Client Orientation ☒ Commitment and Motivation ☒ Commitment to Continuous Learning ☒ Communication ☒ Creativity ☒ Ethics and Values ☒ Integrity ☒ Knowledge Sharing ☒ Professionalism ☒ Respect for Diversity ☒ Self-Management ☒ Working in Teams

education development, adolescent skill development, policy research and analysis, programme management and/or evaluation with government, international organisation and/or professional bodies in Mainland China.

Demonstrable understanding of China’s education landscape, challenges and direction, particularly in the field of adolescent learning and skills development

Track record and hands-on experience in applying programme management tools to conceptualize and drive major education interventions, with proven success in delivering education outcomes for young adolescents in China (evidence required).

The duty station of the national UN Volunteer is located in Beijing city, where modest public infrastructure and excellent health services are available. It is the foremost political and cultural metropolis in China.

In general, rent for apartments in central locations is high relative to other regions in China, but quality is good. Beijing is well served by many shopping malls, large supermarket chains and international brands. Buses and subways are the most common form of mass transportation. Metered taxis are widely available and domestic and regional travel by train and airplane is popular.

Conditions of Service for national UN Volunteers The National UN Volunteer receives a standard volunteer living allowance (VLA), which is intended to cover their accommodation and basic living expenses. In China the VLA is 10201.83 RMB per month. The National UN Volunteer is entitled to an excellent health, life and disability insurance package. A modest Settling-in Grant and end of assignment allowance will also be provided, along with travel to and from the duty station. International travel to duty station will not covered by UNV. The National UN Volunteer is entitled to 2.5 days personal leave per month and government official holidays.