International Consultancy : Teacher Training and Development Consultant UNICEF South Sudan

Contract

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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, Education.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment: UNICEF, in partnership with the Ministry of General Education and Instruction (MoGEI), is working to strengthen pre-service teacher education in South Sudan through measures outlined in the General Education Sector Plan (GESP)2023-2027 under process. The government policy attaches highest priority to improve the quality of education at all levels and identifies teacher and education leadership management development as key strategies to address the quality shortcomings. Poor quality of teaching and learning remains a continuing challenge in South Sudan. According to EMIS 2021 data, only 47% of teachers currently teaching in primary schools have been trained in recognized trainings and with certificates, leaving 53% untrained (unqualified and volunteers).

The current GPE and AfDB financial support to South Sudan aims to improve the quality of education, through trained teachers, relevant materials, and strong school management. Trained teachers will be equipped with skills and materials for the new curriculum implementation. The plan is to revamp and functionalize the National Teacher Training Institutes (NTTIs) to ensured continuing and sustained professional support for teachers. It is expected that under this support the capacity of the tutors in the three NTTIs to deliver the new curriculum will be strengthened.

Under the GPE project, UNICEF supported MOGEI to produce new NTTI pre-service teacher training curriculum for the new two-year certificate program to be implemented in all National Teacher Training Institutes in South Sudan. To this effect, all teacher educators (tutors) will have their capacities, skills and knowledge enhanced to deliver the certificate program. This will partly be achieved by embedding technical assistant in MoGEI to provide strategic support to three NTTIs that are operational i.e., Rambur, Maper and Maridi. It is expected that a cadre of NTTI trained tutors, equipped with effective teacher training skills and improved knowledge and understanding, will be instrumental in upgrading the quality of education and effectiveness of the NTTIs in delivering the certificate and diploma courses. This will ultimately lead to creating a culture that will support innovation, creativity, continuous improvement, and effectiveness amongst the NTTI tutors to train teachers that will improve students’ learning outcomes.

The first year is foundation year, focusing on preparing student teachers to acquire basic knowledge and develop skills to teach pre- and primary schools respectively while the second year provide primary subject specialization tracks for student teachers to choose to get more in-depth knowledge and experience in teaching students at the school levels.

Baseline Survey on teacher and school leadership (2022) has shed light on many of the issues facing teacher training and made recommendations as to how teachers’ skill and knowledge can be enhanced to improve learning outcomes. There is an urgent need to enhance the quality of NTTI tutors to a higher standard by considering more cost-effective options for achieving this, including embedding technical assistant. A few challenges in NTTIs include inadequate skills and knowledge of teacher educators in pedagogies and subjects, lack of supervision and poor facilities, equipment, and information resources. There is a need to move from a theoretical to a practical, learner-centered approach. A clear strategy and plan are required for the expansion and transformation of teacher training system in South Sudan.

A critical area of concern and one that needs urgent attention is pre-service teacher education and issues related to enhancing the capacity of the tutors. In the recent national level discussion on the education sector, the challenges underlying teacher education have come into sharper focus and it has been recognized that improvement in the quality of teachers is essential to improving students learning outcomes. The Minister of General Education and Instruction has made the improvement of education standards a top priority and has identified teacher training as a critical area of concern and a key strategy for improving the quality of education.

In line with the above narration, the International Individual Consultant is sought to support MoGEI in operationalization of the 3 NTTIs by enhancing the capacity of the institutions (teacher educators) on quality delivery of the new Competency-based pre-service certificate courses.

Main Duties and Responsibilities: Purpose A motivated and well-trained teaching force is a prerequisite for quality education. Improving the training of teacher trainers is an effective tool for social development in South Sudan. As such, a sound strategy is needed to outline a systemic approach to the teacher training in the context of South Sudan’s current proposed sector reform. The purpose of this technical assistance is to provide strategic support to the effective roll out of the new teacher training syllabus for certificate and diploma teachers through transforming and strengthening capacity development of NTTIs. Specific Work Assignment The assignment will be carried out in 126 days spread over six (6) months, ranging from May 2023 to October 2023. The consultant will perform the tasks under the overall supervision of the Director General, TDMS, the consultant will work in close collaboration with the NTTIs, the Universities and UNICEF and the TDMS team. The consultant will ensure international good practices and be responsible for the design, drafting and review of the overall tutors training program, training modules, and accompanying relevant resources, and the delivery of facilitation of the training.

The consultant’s responsibilities include, among others, • Assessing teacher educators (tutors) training and capacity building needs. • Providing technical guide on the selection of training themes that need to be covered during the trainings. • Provide technical support for development of training manuals, including a set of modules covering the agreed themes with the support of NTTI tutors, TDMS and the University of Juba. • Reviewing training syllabus developed by the Curriculum Foundation (CF) and providing technical comments to improve the content, particularly ensuring the adequate presence of good practice relevant to South Sudan. • Developing training evaluation questionnaires (such as pre-test and post-test surveys) to document the appropriateness and effectiveness of the agreed themes covered, the training materials and the delivery of trainings. • Preparing and delivering training sessions to teacher educators in each NTTI in different states in South Sudan. • Collecting feedback from teacher educators during the training sessions through training evaluation questionnaires and/or other formative means, • Coaching teacher educators and establish mechanisms for mentorship and peer support among the teacher educators and • Providing recommendations and a roadmap of how training of NTTI tutors could be institutionalized and sustained in the NTTIs.

Scope of Work: The main tasks of the Consultant are described above is to provide technical support Ministry of General Education Instruction (MoGEI) to operationalize 3 NTTIs, Rambur in Central Equatoria State, Maridi in Western Equatoria State and Maper in Northern Bahr El Ghazal State by enhancing the capacity of the institutions (teacher educators) on quality delivery of the new competency-based Courses.

Work Assignment Overview Tasks/Milestone: Deliverables/Outputs: Timeline/Deadline Payment % Providing details of the consultancy work approach including training and capacity building needs.

Deliverable 1- Training needs report and progress monthly progress reports. 4 weeks 30/07/2023 10% Providing written work schedule including detailed field schedule to Maridi and Maper NTTIs

Deliverable 2- Written Work plan including detailed field schedule and monthly progress report. 4 weeks 30/08/2023 15% Providing technical support for development of training manuals, including a set of modules covering the agreed themes with the support of NTTI tutors, TDMS and the University of Juba.

Deliverable 3 – Final training modules and training Agenda and monthly progress reports. 4 weeks 30/09/2023 20% Developing and administering training evaluation questionnaires (such as pre-test and post-test surveys) to document the appropriateness and effectiveness of the agreed themes covered, the training materials and the delivery of trainings.

Deliverable 4(1) - Pre-test and post-test survey developed and monthly progress reports. 4 weeks 30/10/2023 10% Preparing and delivering training sessions/workshops and capacity enhancement guide to teacher educators in Maridi, Rambur and Maper NTTIs. Deliverable 4(2) – Capacity building training monthly reports. 4 weeks 30/11/2023 20% Coaching teacher educators and establish mechanisms for mentorship and peer support among the teacher educators. Deliverable 5–Monthly coaching mentorship reports. 4 weeks 30/12/2023 10% Providing recommendations and a roadmap on institutionalization and certification teachers.

Deliverable 6 – Recommendation on capacity building and Certification report. 4 weeks 30/01/2024 15%

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

Minimum Qualifications required:

• PhD in any of this fields: Education, Teacher Education, Educational Development, or Social Development.
• A minimum of 8 years of relevant work experience
• Extensive knowledge and experience in teachers’ professional development for basic education.
• Demonstrate knowledge of international teachers’ professional development for basic education.
• Knowledge and experience of education in a developing country context.
• Experience to in developing training strategy, training modules and delivering teacher training and on themes such as competency-based approach, teaching strategies.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English. Fluency in another UN language is an asset.

• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English. • Ability to work both independently and collaboratively on delegated tasks.

All Applications MUST be accompanied by a detailed Financial and Technical Proposal.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

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:

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.