Education, Individual Contractor, Brazil

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

Background & Rationale

Brazil has made steady progress in all education-related indicators regarding access, permanence and quality of learning. In terms of access, from 1990 to 2013 the percentage of children of compulsory school age who were out of school was reduced by 64%, from 19.6% to 6.4%. Even though this percentage seems small, it was equivalent to 2.8 million children and adolescents in 2015 according to the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD 2015). In general, they are poor, Afro-descendants, indigenous and/or live in traditional communities: most of them live on the outskirts of large urban centers, in the Semi-Arid, in the Amazon and in rural areas. Children and adolescents with disabilities face very severe exclusions: in 2015, almost 30% of all children with disabilities were out of school.

Quality is one of the remaining challenges to universal access to and permanence in school and it is a national priority as stated in the SDG 4 (SDG). In 2018, close to 6.5 million children and adolescents in primary and secondary education were 2 or more years behind their grades, one of the main causes for drop out. Other elements include discrimination, child labor, and pregnancy, inadequate curricula, including in relation to racial and inclusive relations, and undervalued teachers. Poor infrastructure also limits opportunities: for example, only 32% of all schools in Brazil have sports facilities, and only 24% have adequate facilities for people with disabilities. The access to primary education is well balance among boys and girls, but for secondary education, especially in rural areas, the girls are more likely to do not access and drop out more than boys. The access to basic WASH at school level remain a challenge in the intervention areas.

In 2017, just the 23,9% of public schools all over the country achieved or surpassed the established learning goal (based on IDEB). The Amazon and the Semiarid regions present a more challenging situation. In the Amazon state, 66% of the children that concludes the first stage of elementary school, have basic or insufficient levels in Math and only 31% of those who concludes the second stage have enough levels in Portuguese. In the state of Bahia, part of the Semiarid region, 60% of the students that concludes the first stage of elementary school have insufficient levels of learning in Portuguese and only 8% of those who concludes the second stage are proficient in Math.

UNICEF in Brazil has as one of the priorities of its Country Program for 2017-2021, the confrontation of this culture of school failure in Brazil. To this end, the Education area has developed the Selo UNICEF Município Aprovado (UNICEF Seal of Approved Municipality). The Seal supports and encourages governments to positively commit to and guarantee the rights of children and adolescents in the Semiarid and Brazilian Legal Amazon, with the aim of reducing the inequalities of these regions in relation to the rest of the country.

When participating in the UNICEF Seal, the municipality must follow the proposed methodology to strengthen the skills of local actors so that they can work in an intersectoral and integrated manner and offer quality public policies, in addition to monitoring social indicators and assessing performance and social participation. The involvement and participation of the Rights Council, Tutelary Council and sector councils is also a fundamental part of the social participation process. They must also implement social mobilization actions that guarantee the participation of adolescents. The municipalities that make the most progress in guaranteeing the rights of children and adolescents are recognized with the UNICEF Seal, and can make use of this recognition during the next cycle of the programme.

In connection to UNICEF Seal, the Successful School Paths strategy aims to support municipalities and states in the diagnostic, definition, implementation and evaluation of specific curriculum for students that are late in school. To achieve the results, the strategy foresees the integration of schools and other territorial actors (including NGOs and health and social protection sectors) and the participation of the targeted students in the planning and development of the activities.

It is important to understand that age-grade distortion is not a problem unique to one school, but part of a broader reality brought by a school system that often reproduces it. From this perspective, it is necessary to understand that age-grade distortion is a complex issue, the solution of which is the constitution of a protection and attention network for children and adolescents. The solution also includes a support network for school management teams and teachers who set themselves the challenge of facing school failure and promoting successful paths for these children and adolescents.

Another initiative which adds to UNICEF Seal is the Fora da Escola Não Pode! which confronts school drop-out through an Active School Search strategy. This initiative is developed in multiple fronts of action and seeks to raise awareness among different actors responsible for school inclusion, as well as society in general, about the problem of school exclusion and viable practical plans to mitigate this problem.

Finally, the recent and ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has triggered a UNICEF's response in Brazil aiming to contribute to the prevention, early detection and control of the coronavirus in the country; and mitigate the impacts of the pandemic on the lives of girls and boys.

On the education front, the emergency response has a strong focus on public policy. UNICEF is working with governments at the federal, state and municipal levels, businesses and civil society to mitigate the impact of the crisis and ensure continuity of services adapted to the new reality. In addition, UNICEF invests in supporting adolescents' mental health and engaging them in actions and also in monitoring the situation and social impact to produce evidence in support of policies and actions.

This consultancy will support the implementation of activities from these strategies (UNICEF Seal, Successful School Path and Active School Search) and education emergency response to Covid-19 to help the most excluded boys and girls to benefit from enhanced and inclusive public policies and services as well as activities that help the most vulnerable boys and girls benefit from quality social policies for vulnerable children and adolescents. The individual contractor will actively participate in decision making processes, contributing to the achievements of the Education Area in the programme.

Purpose

The individual contractor seeks to address our current needs to help the development and implementation of Education Area activities to both Outcome 1: Enhanced policies for excluded children and adolescents in education area and Outcome 2: Quality social policies for vulnerable children and adolescents, in line with Components 1 and 2 of the Brazil Country Programme 2017-2021. One important part of this IC duties are related to the implementation of Successful School Pathways at Rio Grande do Norte State.

Expected results: (measurable results)

SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time Bound

1. Result: Support the implementation of Successful School Paths strategy in the Rio Grande do Norte state in partnership with State Secretary of Education;

1.1. Deliverables:

1. Support State Secretariat of Education, school managers and teachers, CSO and other institutions in the development process of a comprehensive diagnosis of the age-grade distortion scenario in their state level education system;
2. Support State Secretariat of Education, school managers and teachers in the development process of curriculum proposals aimed at age-grade distortion students;
3. Support State Secretariat of Education in establishing a network of organizations and institutions whose work could help schools in implementing cross-sectional curriculars aimed at age-grade distortion students;

4. Support UNICEF staff to draft donor reports as per requested, including data and information related to the project implementation – activities undertaken, results achieved, best practices and communications pieces identified.

   1.2. Duration: 11 ½ months;

   1.3. Deadline: at the end of every 1-month cycle;

   1.4. Payment (% of the contract): 40%

2. Result: Support the implementation of School Active Search strategy in Rio Grande do Norte, Piauí and Paraíba states;

2.1. Deliverables:

1. Provide technical assistance to municipalities enrolled in the strategy;
2. Support the UNICEF Education sector in defining criteria and methodology for municipalities’ re-enrollment in the strategy as of January 2021;
3. Plan, coordinate and report on local training and/or advocacy meetings with public agents at state and municipal level for the 2020-2021 period;

4. Monitor activities collected by the School Active Search platform to be used on advocacy and strategy’s monitoring purposes.

   2.2. Duration: 11 ½ months;

   2.3. Deadline (final delivery date): at the end of every 1-month cycle;

   2.4. Payment (% of the contract): 30%.

3. Result: Support to program development and planning for the achievement of results for Component 1 - enhanced policies for excluded children and Component 2 - quality social policies for vulnerable children and adolescents under the UNICEF Seal strategy.

3.1. Deliverables:

1. Support the development/establishment of sectoral program goals, objectives and strategies and results-based planning through research, collection, analysis and reporting of education and other related information for development planning and priority and goal setting reporting as per request;
2. Support UNICEF staff to carry out a methodological assessment of UNICEF Seal (2017-2020) regarding its edition’s closing activities and in the planning phase of the upcoming edition (2021-2024) in the Semiarid Territory, under the guidance of the Education sector;
3. Provide ad-hoc support, by providing reports and analysis, to Education section and data-related activities that may come up during 2020/2021.

3.2. Duration: 11 ½ months;

3.3. Deadline (final delivery date): at the end of every 1-month cycle;

3.4. Payment (% of the contract): 30%.

Services of this contract will be delivered continuously, with the same frequency throughout the months.

Delivery deadlines of reports:

1. 18 November 2020;
2. 18 December 2020;
3. 18 January 2021;
4. 18 February 2021;
5. 18 March 2021;
6. 18 April 2021;
7. 18 May 2021;
8. 18 June 2021;
9. 18 July 2021;
10. 18 August 2021;
11. 18 September 2021;
12. 4 October 2021.

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

• Punctuality in meeting deadlines;
• Quality of the contents;
• Timely provision of the deliverables;
• Full adherence to the monthly workplans and diligences as agreed with Supervisor;
• Satisfactory quality level of reports and actions (quality of inputs, analysis, register of activities, recommendations, etc).

Key competences, technical background, and experience required Deadline

• Advanced degree in Communication, Management, Education, Psychology, Sociology or other social science field is required;
• A minimum of 5 years of professional work experience at national or international levels in relevant Education programmes. Experience in UN system agency or organization is an asset;
• Fluency in Portuguese is required and fluency in English is an asset;
• Knowledge on children’s rights issues, including the Convention of Rights of the Child and the Statute of the Child and the Adolescent;
• Experience in content production and project management;
• Teamwork skills and capacity to work with tight deadlines;
• Knowledge in the use of digital media tools and social networks;
• Experience in the production of materials for learning programs or content for social mobilization initiatives.

General Conditions: Procedures and Logistics

• UNICEF will provide the individual contractor all required material for fulfilling his duty;
• Expenses related to these travels will be covered by UNICEF and paid to the Individual contractor as per UNICEF travel rules and regulations.
• No contract may commence unless the contract is signed by both UNICEF and the consultant or individual Contractor;
• Consultants / ICs will not have supervisory responsibilities or authority on UNICEF budget.

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.

Restrictions

Consultants and individual contractors may not receive training at the expense of UNICEF. Notwithstanding, consultants and individual contracts 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.