Individual International Consultancy: Education Analyst, UNICEF Vientiane, Lao PDR

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

UNICEF is a UN organization mandated by the UN General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. In Lao PDR, UNICEF is working with its partners to support the Government to realize children’s rights on survival, development, protection and participation.

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.

For every child, support

UNICEF in Vientiane, Lao PDR is looking for an Individual International Consultancy: “Education Analyst”. The duration of this assignment is 11 months, starting from 15 March 2021 until 12 February 2022. The Consultant will be working for the UNICEF Lao PDR Office and based in Vientiane, although the COVID-19 situation may require the consultant to initially work from outside the country. As soon as entry approvals are secured the Consultant will be expected to travel to Laos and work from the UNICEF Lao PDR Office. It is foreseen that this assignment will involve regular travelling to the provinces and districts.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

The consultant will be supporting the UNICEF Education Programme team by providing technical inputs for key programme interventions. These include:

Studies and assessments for evidence informed decision-making

• Supporting the implementation, analysis, quality assurance and dissemination of four studies:

1) Cost-effectiveness analysis of interventions in the education sector of Lao PDR.

2) A study on positive deviant schools in Lao PDR.

3) A study on student drop out.

4) A review of the lower secondary education system that among others is to provide concrete recommendations for establishing a cost-effective pedagogical advisory system at lower secondary level.

The work will focus on supporting the organisation of stakeholder consultation workshops through the provision of technical inputs and documentation; and supporting the Education Manager in quality assuring, editing and formatting of the study analytical reports; supporting the dissemination of results, including by drafting of research/policy briefs and academic articles on specific topics.

• Supporting the implementation, analysis and dissemination of the Grade 5 student assessment results. This includes supporting the Education Manager in quality assuring, editing and formatting of the analytical report; and supporting the dissemination of results by providing hands-on-support to MoES in the drafting of research/policy briefs on specific topics.

• Supporting the development and trailing of a participatory institutional capacity assessment methodology for District Education and Sports Bureaus (DESBs) in target districts. This includes supporting the development and trailing of the assessment methodology and tools; quality assurance of analysis; supporting the documentation of the trial and processes; drafting of case studies and policy/research briefs, and action plans – that are to form an integrated part of the DESB Annual Costed Action Plans (ACSEPS).

School- and district development planning

• Supporting the implementation (i.e. trial), monitoring and evaluation of the new Primary School Fundamental Quality Standards (FQS) based, School Development Guidelines in UNICEF target districts. Informed by the lessons learned of the trial, support the review of the School development guidelines and corresponding guidelines for DESB staff

• Supporting the development of blended training courses on school- and district development planning by providing technical inputs, reviewing and quality assuring of course content;

• Supporting in the development of early childhood education (ECE)- and secondary school Fundamental Quality Standards and corresponding school development guidelines.

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

Qualifications and experience:

• Advanced degree in education, economics, public administration or related field.

• A minimum of five years of professional experience in programme planning, management, and/or research is required; of which at least three years in the education sector.

• Experience in organising multi-stakeholder consultation meetings/workshops and drafting of training materials is an advantage.

• Experience in one or more of the following areas is required: large scale student assessments, institutional capacity and/or organisational learning assessments, school self-assessment and development planning.

• A minimum of three years of experience in commissioning, undertaking and quality assuring research to inform decision-making and policy dialogue, with demonstrated experience in designing research instruments.

• Experience in communicating and disseminating research findings and key messages to different audiences, including by drafting of reports, policy briefs and/or text for blogs or webpages.

• Good knowledge of quantitative and qualitative analysis software packages (e.g. Stata, SPSS, Nvivo).

• Working experience in a UN system agency or other international organisations is an advantage.

• Experience working in a developing country, especially in Asia-Pacific is considered as an asset.

• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English language.

1. Submission of applications:

Interested candidates are kindly requested to apply and upload the following documents to: http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/

• Letter of Interest (cover letter)
• CV or Resume
• Performance evaluation reports or references of similar consultancy assignments (if available)
• Financial proposal: All-inclusive lump-sum cost including travel and accommodation cost for this assignment as per work assignment.

The deadline for applications is 19 February 2021

2. Assessment Criteria:

A two stage procedure shall be utilized in evaluating proposals, with evaluation of the technical proposal being completed prior to any price proposal being compared.

Applications shall therefore contain the following required documentation:

1. Technical Proposal, including a cover letter, updated CV, and copies of 2 relevant evaluations performed earlier by the consultant.

2. Financial Proposal: Lump-sum offer with the cost breakdown: Consultancy fee, travel costs (economy class), per-diem to cover lodging, meals, and any other cost related to the consultant's stay in Vientiane, including transportation inside the city and other costs. The travel (if involved) shall be based on the most direct and economy fare.

No financial information should be contained in the technical proposal.

For evaluation and selection method, the Cumulative Analysis Method (weight combined score method) shall be used for this recruitment:

a) Technical evaluation of the candidates’ qualifications, experience and expertise (max. 100 points) weight 70%:

Qualifications (20 points)

• Advanced degree in education, economics, public administration or related field (20 points).

Experience and expertise (80 points)

• A minimum of five years of professional experience in programme planning, management, and/or research is required; of which at least three years in the education sector (20 points).
• Experience in organising multi-stakeholder consultation meetings/workshops and drafting of training materials is an advantage (10 points).
• Experience in one or more of the following areas is required: large scale student assessments, institutional capacity and/or organisational learning assessments, school self-assessment and development planning (10 points).
• A minimum of three years of experience in commissioning, undertaking and quality assuring research to inform decision-making and policy dialogue, with demonstrated experience in designing research instruments (10 points).
• Experience in communicating and disseminating research findings and key messages for different audiences, including by drafting of reports, policy briefs and/or text for blogs or webpages (10 points).
• Working experience in a UN system agency or other international organisations is an advantage (5 points).
• Experience working in a developing country, especially in Asia-Pacific is considered an asset (5 points).
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English language (10 points).

b) Financial Proposal (max. 100 points) weight 30 %

The maximum number of points shall be allotted to the lowest Financial Proposal that is opened /evaluated and compared among those technical qualified candidates who have attained a minimum 70 points score in the technical evaluation. Other Financial Proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price.

The applicants should provide medical insurance covering medical evacuation for the whole duration of the assignment -as part of the financial proposal submission.

The Contract shall be awarded to candidate obtaining the highest combined technical and financial scores, subject to the satisfactory result of the verification interview.

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.

View our competency framework at 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:

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