Education Officer – Education Quality

Contract

This is a UNV International Specialist contract. This kind of contract is known as International UN Volunteer. It is normally internationally recruited only. More about UNV International Specialist contracts.

Non-family duty station

Under the direct supervision of P4 Education Manager, the International UN Volunteer will carry out the following tasks, with the overall objective to support UNICEF Myanmar’s education programming in the area of education quality and children’s learning.

• Support UNICEF Education team to have a solid emphasis on quality and learning in education programme strategy, planning, implementation and monitoring, across all 3 education outputs, focusing on most disadvantaged children, including children from ethnic minorities, and children with disabilities, including those who have not had access to education for over a year.

• Collaborate with UNICEF’s partner organizations and institutional contractors working to improve the quality of education, such as learning material development, catch up learning programmes, student learning assessment, teacher education, to contribute to their effective and timely support and to ensure capacity building to wider partner organizations, as well as utilisation of resources produced.

• Liaise closely with the national consultant responsible for the roll-out of the Myanmar pages of the Learning Passport, as well as advise the education team, across all 3 outputs, in ensuring that the LP website and associated application are effectively utilised by UNICEF and wider sector partners, as well as individual learners, when appropriate, and that the LP features are effectively utilised in the monitoring of students learning outcomes.

• Build and sustain close working partnerships with UNICEF counterparts and national and subnational stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge on a wide range of topics related to quality education as mentioned above.

• Work closely with other programme sections and units within UNICEF Myanmar to pro-vide technical assistance in the area of quality education, and make relevant links in this regard to other sections.

• Work closely with UNICEF Education section in Yangon to provide technical assistance to national colleagues engaged in partnership management related to quality education.

• Contribute to the development of new programme cooperation agreements with international and national NGOs/CBOs for improving the quality of education and enhancing children’s learning outcomes.

• Prepare donor proposals and resource mobilization materials on topics related to quality education and learning outcomes, as well as donor reporting.

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

International professional experience in education programme planning and technical support for partners is required. Experience working on education quality, such as education material development, catch-up learning and/or accelerated learning programmes, learning assessment, teacher education for most disadvantaged children, is required. Experience working on education in a developing country is required. Experience working for UN, international organizations or equivalent is required. Experience working on education quality includes programme planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation; capacity building for partners; technical leadership for learning and teaching material development; technical inputs for sector coordination; and advocacy. Experience working with NGOs and civil society organizations to support their capacity building in education programming with focus on providing support for children’s quality education and learning, as well as assessment of children’s learning outcomes. Experience in both development and humanitarian context is considered as an added advantage.

Yangon, with over 7 million people, is Myanmar's largest city and its most important commercial centre. It takes 30-45 minutes to the country’s capital Naypyitaw. Yangon is full of colonial-era buildings. UNICEF office is just several kilometers away from the downtown area.

Yangon is currently a “Level 3” area and therefore the Designated Official for Security for Myanmar must receive a travel notification in advance and provide security clearance. On 1 February 2021, the Myanmar Military took over the power from the democratically elected government and declared a state of emergency. Following the takeover, the security situation in the country worsened. Since 30 March 2021, there has been a family restriction in place and eligible family members of international staff members have been evacuated.

The public healthcare system in Myanmar has deteriorated since the military takeover, with many hospital workers participating in the national strike called the Civil Disobedience Movement. However, the UN clinic to where UN staff can turn for health issues remains open. There are many internationally qualified doctors working in Yangon, but in case of hospitalization, it is advisable to go to Singapore or Bangkok. As a result of the recent Military coup, banking sector is not operating with its full capacity due to bank staff participating in the national strike referred to as the Civil Disobedient Movement. The economy contracted by 10%, triggering a cash crisis. The Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) has imposed restrictions on cash withdrawals of MMK- 500,000 for individuals and MMK-50,000 for company/organization per week. This is further reduced by individual banks based on the availability of cash within every banks. ATMs are not being replenished regularly and the limit on ATM withdrawal has been progressively lowered. Restrictions are also imposed on daily/weekly ATM withdrawals. As ATM queues become long, people have even started the business of selling their spots in ATM queues. Mobile banking is partially resumed.

The security situation in Myanmar is currently volatile and unpredictable. Acts of violence by both parties of the conflict can occur anywhere, anytime and a further deterioration of the security situation is possible. Although the supplies have been limited and pricy, the situation is changing rapidly and a wider range of accommodation options are becoming available. There are some private real estate agents with Websites. There are also real estate agents who have been helping UNICEF staff to find housing.