Education Officer NO/A TA (Open to Chile Nationals Only)

Contract

This is a NO-1 contract. This kind of contract is known as National Professional Officers. It is normally only for nationals. It's a staff contract. More about NO-1 contracts.

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected millions of children’s education in Chile due to prolonged school closure since March 2020. Children’s education was affected in an unequal manner, largely depending on their socio-economic status. Most of schools closed in mid-March, only after 2 weeks of a new school year. Schools slowly started to reopen in Chile beginning end August, while there is a conflicting position between MOE and different associations. As in end November, approximately 13% of all 13,056 schools at all levels in the country are open or in the process of reopening. The number of children attending school is being confirmed, as the attendance rate depends on each school.

Efforts were made to initiate the on-line education, however, it was evident that the system was not prepared. According to OECD report, 5% of children reported to have accessed very little of none of online curriculum, 60% had partial access, and 35% accessed all or its majority. The situation indicates that the pandemic aggravated the already existing inequity in the country, hitting the poorest children and families the most. This widening gap is likely to have produced a large number of children lagging behind with their academic achievements and will require systematic catch-up in order to ensure their continuation of a quality education, and to prevent eventual school drop-out.

For every child, education

Under the supervision of Education Officer (NOB), the Education Officer (NOA) provides professional technical, operational, and administrative assistance throughout the programming process for education programme within the Country Program from development planning to delivery of results, preparing, managing, implementing, programme progress monitoring, evaluating and reporting, in the area of supporting to the transition to school reopening in COVID-19 pandemic context, mixed-modality of learning (presential and online), and mitigate the risks of school drop-out for dragging behind.

How can you make a difference?

1. Undertake programme development, planning, programme management, monitoring and delivery of results in education in the COVID-19 pandemic context. In particular: Propose, develop, and implement actions to accelerate the catch-up of children lagging behind due to school closure in 2020. Review current responses and explore innovative mechanisms to provide needed support including, but not limited to:

• Mixed modality of learning - Online education; • Online tutoring; • Support for the vulnerable families; and • Support to teachers’ competencies in the new teaching-leaning context.

2. Provide technical and operational support to programme development, planning and implementation in the school reopening in the COVID-19 pandemic context with the following emphasis:

• Supervision of the project(s) with partner(s) to monitor and follow-up of reopened schools; • Technical guidance to the Government partners in reopening of kindergartens; • Follow-up on the implementation of UNICEF’s “Technical Orientation to Return to Schools”; and • Follow-up on UNICEF’s guide for the socio-emotional support of school communities.

3. Support innovation, knowledge management and capacity building in supporting education in/transition from COVID-19 pandemic.

• Provide support in identifying, capturing, synthesizing, and sharing lessons learned for knowledge development and capacity development of stakeholders. • Apply innovative approaches and promote good practices to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results. • Research, benchmark and report on best and cutting-edge practices for development planning of knowledge products and systems. • Participate as a resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of partners and stakeholders.

4. Promote an equity focus in education to reach the most excluded children due to aggravated socio-economic inequity in the country due to pandemic.

5. Provide support in monitoring and reporting of UNICEF’s response to COVID-19 and the transition.

• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual sectoral reviews with government and other counterparts and prepare minutes/reports on results for follow up action by higher management and other stakeholders. • Prepare required documentations and materials to facilitate the programme review and approval process.

6. Provide support in UNICEF’s networking and partnership building.

• Provide support to the supervisor with the education coordination mechanisms of the Government, the civil society, and others. • Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with government counterparts, the civil society, the academia, and others, through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate programme implementation, and contribute to build capacity of stakeholders to achieve and sustain results on education programmes. • Participate in appropriate inter-agency meetings of United Nations System and events on programming, and collaborate with inter-agency partners on UNDAF operational planning and preparation of education programmes/projects, and integrate and harmonize UNICEF’s position and strategies with the UNDAF development and planning process.

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

• A university degree in one of the following fields is required: education, psychology, sociology, or similar relevant technical field.
• A minimum of two years of professional relevant experience in programme planning, management, implementation, and/or research in education is required. Experience working on policy level or nation-wide programmes in the country is considered as an asset.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
• Fluency in Spanish and English is required.
• For this position chilean nationality is required. National Professional Officers are nationals of the country in which they are serving, and their functions must have a national context, i.e. functions that require national experience or knowledge of the national language, culture, institutions, and systems.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The functional competencies required for this post are Analyzing; Applying technical expertise; Learning and researching; Planning and organizing.

View our competency framework here

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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.

Remarks:

This is a Temporary Appointment position with a maximum of 2 years of contract.

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

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