International Consultant to Support documentation of the Learning Crisis conference and the development of Nigeria’s Framework of Action, Abuja - Nigeria ( Remote with Travel to Nigeria )

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

Nigeria is in the depths of a learning crisis. Approximately, 3 out of 4 children in Nigeria cannot read with meaning or solve simple math problems . Fewer than 1 in 20 of the poorest children & 1 in 7 children in rural areas have foundational skills . The lack of foundational literacy and numeracy skills affects children’s ability to learn high order skills and increases their risk of repeating classes or dropping out, thereby fuelling the out of school phenomenon. This is further reflected in national literacy rates where the average national literacy rate for Nigeria is 62% - nearly half of women (47%) and nearly one-quarter (29%) of men cannot read or write

The learning crisis is stalling significant gains that Nigeria has made in getting more children to attend school. Multiple challenges affect the quality of education in Nigeria. If we don’t confront these, we risk stalling progress and losing gains already made for children. Key challenges include low and inequitable participation in early learning with just 63 per cent of five-year-olds engage in organized learning . At Basic education level, poor teaching and lack of teaching and learnings materials contributes to low learning achievement. At least 1 in 3 primary teachers are unqualified . Ineffective cascade training has done little to remedy these gaps. Many classrooms lack the teaching and learning materials needed to meet children’s needs.

These challenges are not insurmountable. There is evidence globally and in Nigeria on what works in improving foundational learning and numeracy. UNICEF and partners have developed effective models to overcome these challenges. From 2012 to 2021, UNICEF, with generous support from the United Kingdom government, managed the Girls Education Project Phase III (GEP3) through which 1.5 million girls were enrolled in school in northern Nigeria. GEP3 implemented literacy and numeracy interventions through the Reading and Numeracy Activity (RANA), which uses a mother tongue-based whole-language approach and integrates phonics.

An independent evaluation of GEP3 showed that RANA was critical to the programme’s success. The percentage of pupils achieving basic English literacy increased from 10 per cent at baseline to 40 per cent at the end of GEP3. The programme documented an increased use of teaching and learning materials, as well as child-centred, interactive teaching methods. Moreover, female youth literacy rates increased by two percentage points in target states.

UNICEF in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education, the Universal Basic Education Commission and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum will convene a national conference on the learning crisis to bring attention to the scale of the problem, what are its key drivers, effective models to improve foundational literacy and numeracy and to agree on a framework of action on FLN.

The Learning Crisis Conference will bring together education practitioners, government officials and executives, supported by technical experts, youth, and development partners and government agencies - to identify, review and discuss challenges, evidence, and innovations to address the learning crisis and strengthen collective buy-in for data-backed approaches.

The key objectives of the conference are as follows:

1. Examine the challenges and bottle necks to foundational learning in Nigeria
2. Review the evidence of effective foundational learning interventions, both from Nigeria and from other countries
3. Agree on a Framework of Action to address the learning Crisis (key interventions and strategies).

The conference under the theme “Scaling Foundational Literacy and Numeracy in Nigeria” will be organized around two key sub themes 1) Data and Evidence: the scale of the learning crisis and what works from the various interventions being implemented across the states in Nigeria 2) From Pilots to Scale: the development and endorsement of a National Framework of Action to Address the Learning Crisis.

As such, the key outcome of this National Learning Crisis Conference will be A Framework of Action to address the Learning Crisis in Nigeria.

How can you make a difference?

The purpose of this consultancy is threefold:

Pre-conference support:

• Provide Technical support in conceptualizing and designing the learning crisis conference with the conference working group
• Develop a situational analysis and review of existing evidence and approaches on what works in FLN including costing data wherever available
• Development a Framework of Action to address the learning crisis including remedial learning for different education phases
• Draft the presentation of the framework of action and plan the thematic group work on the Framework of Action
• Develop the conference package with partners – conference documentation, presentations, knowledge products

During the Conference

• Facilitate the session on the Draft Framework of Action- (this includes presenting the framework and guiding the group work session)

Post Conference:

• Lead the review and finalization of the Nigeria’s Framework of Action to address the learning crisis in Nigeria. The revision will be based on stakeholder feedback and conference outcomes.
• Present the revised Framework of Action and its operationalization at a validation meeting (the validation meeting with relevant agencies and partners for the validation and endorsement of the framework; facilitate a workshop and provide technical support on the development of a roadmap to identify specific actions, timelines, targets, and responsibilities, hold zonal meetings on the operationalization of the framework)

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

Education:

Master’s in Education development, Education Policy, Social Policy, International Relations, or related field

Experience:

• A minimum of 8 years of experience in education programming, documentation, and reporting
• A minimum of 5 years working experience with using education data to inform evidence-based decision-making to address key barriers to education access and learning.
• Strong working knowledge of global current issues on learning challenges and what works in improving learning outcomes in particular FLN.
• Proven track record of developing strategy papers and frameworks of action.
• Strong knowledge of the Nigerian context and understanding of international development issues, including issues around out of school children in Nigeria, particularly as it relates to learning.
• Strong understanding of science of scaling in and through government and non-formal systems

Other skills and attributes:

• Experience working with UN agencies or other international development agencies
• Strong knowledge of the Nigerian political landscape and recent developments in education
• A good understanding of UNICEF’s programmatic areas, namely Education (especially Education in Emergencies), social policy and child protection
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, with experience translating evidence for and communicating with a broad range of actors (including government) on sensitive issues
• experience in facilitating large groups of government and high-level stakeholders and integrating diverse perspectives into coherent plans of action, strategies, and frameworks
• Ability to present ideas concisely for diverse audiences and to give practical, actionable advice grounded in evidence

Language requirements:

• Fluency in English is required.

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:

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.