International consultant supporting the learning and documentation of the Early Warning System in the upper secondary schools in Albania (General and VET)

Contract

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Type of contract: Consultant Duration: 10 months starting June 2023 Workplace: Home based

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Purpose of Activity/Assignment: UNICEF Albania is looking to hire an international consultant in supporting the implementation of the “Early Warning System” (EWS) mechanism for the Drop Out prevention in secondary schools in Albania. The aim of this consultancy is to support the learning and documentation process, challenges, best practices from implementing of the EWS as well the provision of the technical expertise in mentoring education professionals and design the profile of youth dropouts from the secondary education system.

Scope of Work:

Albania is one of the Western Balkan countries that has the highest proportion of youth Neither in Employment Nor in Education or Training (NEET). The NEET rate for the 15-24 years old group was 24.0% in 2021. The high NEETs rate is as well a reflection of the dropout phenomenon in the VET and general upper secondary schools in Albania. Besides the general secondary education system, recent trends in VET education show a decrease in enrolment (circa 17.000 fewer students in 2020-2021 compared to 2019-2020). Often youth that drop out from education are youth from vulnerable groups (such as Roma and Egyptian, children and youth from social economic problems, children, and youth with disability). Often these youth face more social-emotional challenges and would need an increased support in developing their social-emotional skills.

In the past years, UNICEF Albania has supported the Ministry of Education and Sports in the prevention of drop out of children from the compulsory system by providing approaches, tools, and mechanisms on how to identify and address the school dropout while investing in raising the capacities of school members on how to work together in prevention and supporting the children at risk. This approach is called "Early Warning Systems" (EWS) and it aims to combat drop out by supporting children to stay in school through strategies and interventions to meet their specific needs. EWS is a system that enables schools or education authorities to recognize a red flag warning at an early stage before the student has dropped out and identifies the risk factors early enough to ensure appropriate support to keep them in school. EWS supports and requires from schools to have some capacity to plan and support students. It also requires external services and professionals, such as social workers/psycho-social staff, to some extent, help students and families that are facing the most adverse or complex situations.

In this regard, while the adaption and implementation of this mechanisms has just started in 85 general high schools and 15 VET schools, emerges the need to document the learning process in order to influence the policy implementation. On the other side, this process needs a qualified expert in EWS to support the mentoring and coaching the education professionals working with this model as well as agencies involved in the implementation process. Finally, from the implementation of this model, UNICEF will have a better opportunity to understand and develop the youth dropouts’ profile.

Work Assignments Overview:

Deliverable 1: Development of a detailed working plan for all the consultancy and the proposal of the methodology of the drop out youth profile (see deliverable 4)

Task 1.1 - Draft a detailed working plan for the consultancy and share it with the UNICEF Education staff for feedback. Task 1.2 - Incorporate the comments of the UNICEF staff in the working plan and submit the final draft.

Task 1.3 - Draft the methodology with regard to the study on the drop out youth profile and share it with UNICEF staff for feedback.

Task 1.4 - Submit the final draft of methodology of the drop out youth profile to UNICEF staff.

Timeline - By end of June 2023

Deliverable 2: Documentation of the EWS implementation process (learning, challenges and recommendations produced)

Task 2.1 - Produce a first report documenting the initial implementation phase of the adaption of the EWS for secondary education and by catching other elements of Qendro project.

Timeline - By end of July 2023

Task 2.2 - Produce a second report with captured learning from the implementation process of the EWS in 100 schools (general and VET) by highlighting the synergies with other activities of the Qendro project.

Timeline - By end of August 2023

Deliverable 3: Provision of mentoring and coaching on the job the two implementing agencies and schools in the adaption of the EWS for secondary education in Albania

Task 3.1 - Provide a technical review of the manual for EWS in secondary education (VET and general high schools).

Task 3.2 - Provide 4 online coaching sessions to the teams implementing the EWS as per needs emerging during implementation.

Timeline - June, July 2023

Task 3.3 - Provide 6 online mentoring support sessions to teachers from a selected number of schools jointly with implementing organizations.

Task 3.4 - Develop a mentoring guide for school mentors supporting the implementation of the EWS system.

Timeline - October 2023-December 2023

Deliverable 4: Develop the profiles of youth dropouts in Albania

Task 4.1 - Desk Review of the international and national studies and reports with regard to the EWS and the drop out youth profile. Task 4.2 - In close consultation with implementing parties of the EWS model, identify patterns of youth at risk or youth dropping out from secondary education.

Task 4.3 - Based on data, evidence produce a draft with a profile of youth dropouts in the secondary education system in Albania and share the final product after consulting with UNICEF.

Timeline - November 2023 -February 2024

Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required: An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) Masters: Education, Psychology, Social Science, Pedagogy or other related science Relevant working experience internationally in dropout prevention and specifically on early warning systems to prevent drop out.

Proven expertise in working with cross-sectoral approaches to ensuring systemic response to prevention of drop out of children and adolescents from primary and secondary education.

Excellent report writing skills demonstrated.

Mentoring skills and experience in the areas of supporting education professionals on topics of early warning systems, second chance education etc.

Expertise in being engaged in the design of vulnerable youth profiles in different contexts.

Fluency in written and spoken English.

Previous experience in working with UN agencies will be an asset.

What to submit 1. Updated CV 2. Letter of interest summarising the required educational background, the working experience that is relevant to the assignment, and the specific role the candidate will play 3. Proposed methodological approach and management plan as per deliverables explained in the ToR 4. Financial proposal in USD (inclusive of all taxes).

The financial proposal shall be submitted in USD, and must include the consultancy fee, the communication costs and all other individual expenses or applicable costs. The financial proposal must be broken down per deliverable.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS), and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. To view our competency framework, please visit 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:

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. 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.