International Consultancy to conduct a study on the Quality of Preschool Education Services in Azerbaijan

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

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 fulfil 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

Early childhood education is proven to be a critical building block for a child’s future progress and the early years offer an irreplaceable window of opportunity to set a path towards success in primary school and later in life. Children who stay out of early education at a young age often rarely catch up with their peers, often perpetuating cycles of underachievement and high dropout rates that continue to harm vulnerable children into their youth. There is a growing body of evidence that children starting strong in their learning and well-being will have better outcomes when they grow older. At the same time, research emphasizes that the benefits from early interventions are conditional on the level of quality of early education children receive.

Early education in Azerbaijan is provided at 1,825 preschools (kindergartens, nursery-kindergartens and nurseries), including 1,692 public and 133 private preschool institutions, enrolling 126,509 children. The preschool education enrolment rate for age 1-5 has reached 32% in 2021. The enrolment rate was significantly lower in rural as compared to urban areas (20.1 per cent and 44.8 per cent respectively).

The rapid increase in preschool education access has been achieved mainly due to successful countrywide rollout of alternative preschool education models, namely the School Readiness Programme for 5-year-old children and Community-based Early Learning Programme. UNICEF and the Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan are working to increase preschool education coverage and reduce equity gaps in enrolment by scaling up a school readiness and community-based early learning programmes that focus on children who are still not being reached by these vital learning initiatives.

Preschool education in Azerbaijan is regulated and administered by the Ministry of Education. As of 2022 administration of formal preschools, namely, was transferred from the local Executive Authorities to the Ministry of Education and local Education Departments.

While the government has been able to diversify Pre-School Education and expand access with the introduction of alternative preschool education modalities, as well as invest in improving the policy and quality of preschool education through new policies, curricula and standards, the Azerbaijani preschool system is still facing challenges which have significant implications on access, equity, and quality of early education services. Some of the challenges include, but are not limited to overall still low preschool education coverage, unequal access to preschool institutions for children from rural and remote areas, children with disabilities and poor children, lack of clarity on the demand for preschool teachers, lack of clarity on consistency of quality of pre-service institutions’ preparation of pre-service teachers, and whether the current pre-service universities and vocational colleges are aware of if and how their programmes are filling the demands for quality preschool teachers, limited quality assurance processes at all levels and fragmented data management systems for preschool education sub-sector.

How can you make a difference?

Purpose of the assignment:

The study will provide a comprehensive review, analysis and policy recommendations to support improvement of the quality of early childhood education (ECE) system and services in Azerbaijan provided through various modalities of preschool education (kindergartens, School Readiness Programme and Community-based Early Learning Programme).

Scope of Work:

The ECE consultant will be responsible for:

1. Conducting a situation analysis and needs assessment in the field of quality of ECE services in Azerbaijan, including:

• Country context in terms of existing policies, programmes, and interventions in ECE, including interventions supported by UNICEF, the Government and development partners;
• Available ECE data and evidence with focus on access and quality of ECE for children of preschool education age, with particular focus on children 3-6-year-old;
• Review and synthesis of available secondary data through available national education management information systems, surveys and studies, including any relevant ECE research studies.
• Mapping and analysis of early childhood education core functions, including relevant domains of the preschool education quality:
• Quality goals and regulations
• Curriculum and standards
• Qualifications, training and working conditions
• Engaging families and communities
• Data collection, research and monitoring
• Analysis of quality of ECE in Azerbaijan (based on academic achievement data), i.e. differences in school preparedness between the children who attend pre-school and those who do not.
• Analysis of transition from ECE to primary education.

2. Developing policy recommendations for advocacy and programming towards strengthening quality of ECE in preschools, including:

• A roadmap for strengthening quality of ECE systems in Azerbaijan as per the key quality domains mentioned above.
• Recommended results, strategies and actions for the Ministry of Education and UNICEF in the area of ECE quality strengthening to be embedded into the relevant reforms, programmes and policies.
• Ensuring equity, gender, climate resilience and inclusion barriers, opportunities, and factors are identified, well-reflected in the analysis and addressed in the study findings and recommendations.

Work Assignment Overview

Tasks/Milestone:

Deliverables/Outputs:

Timeline:

Inception phase: overview of existing system of ECE quality to further refine and unfold key elements of the ToR outlining the overall strategy, steps, and timeline to achieve the objectives of the consultancy

Inception report (max. 20 pages)

5 days

Data collection, including an in-country visit for context analysis and needs assessment, including meetings, field observations, consultations with UNICEF, MoE, and other relevant stakeholders

10 days, incl travel

Data analysis and 1st draft report, including:

• an executive summary (3 pages max.),
• a detailed consultancy report (30 pages max, including detailed analysis of the gaps and needs of the ECE system, recommendations and a roadmap for the Ministry of Education and UNICEF for improvement of the quality of ECE

1st draft report (max. 40 pages)

10 days

Final Report, including key findings, recommendations and a roadmap for enhancing quality of ECE system in Azerbaijan

• a final report based on the feedback from UNICEF and MOE
• a PPT presentation of the final findings/report and recommendations.

5 days

The study will factor in the analysis and recommendations for strengthening the quality of the existing preschool education provision in Azerbaijan the latest international developments in early childhood education, methods for defining and measuring quality in ECE, and international progress toward quality in ECE.

The research methodology will involve a desk research and secondary review of existing data, including legal and policy documents, research studies, etc. In addition, data will be collected both in-country and, if needed, remotely through semi-structured interviews of key informants among national and local stakeholders including Ministry of Education, Institute of Education, universities and colleges, ECE practitioners and other.

The supervisor of the consultancy is UNICEF Azerbaijan Education Specialist.

Start date: August 2022

End date: October 2022

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

• An advanced university degree in Early Education, Education, Education Policy, Social Sciences or Developmental Psychology.
• At least 8 years of experience in the area of Early Childhood Education advocacy, awareness, programme management and programme design.
• Relevant professional work experience at national and international levels in the social development field, and specifically in early childhood education systems.
• Professional record of conducting needs assessments and studies.
• Strong analytical skills, excellent drafting of professional and standard reports and communication skills.
• General knowledge of UN evaluation policy, norms and standards, including a human rights-based approach to programming and results-based management, including gender equality and child.
• Experience in working with UN / UNICEF and government entities.
• Excellent mastery of English including in report writing and presentation.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

To view our competency framework, please visit 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:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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

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. The candidate may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid).