International consultant to support MoES to review Per-Capita Funding mechanism in education system, 60 w/days, Dushanbe, Tajikistan

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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

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

The Government of Tajikistan introduced the per-capita financing (PCF) mechanism in general secondary education through support of the World Bank in 2007 to ensure equitable and transparent allocation of public expenditures and increase the effectiveness of public spending in education. The operating costs of general secondary institutions are estimated via the per-capita normative to cover teachers’ salaries and social payments, purchase of goods and services, recurrent maintenance and repairs, communal services and other recurrent expenditures, excluding teacher training and textbooks. PCF mechanism was introduced through the Resolution of the Government of Tajikistan "On the approval of regulations for normative (per-capita) financing of general secondary educational institutions" (#505, dated 1 October 2007). Currently, PCF is calculated based on school enrollment, school type, number of languages of instruction, and rayon-level coefficients.

The 2021 Public Expenditure Review (PER) and the 2020 Education Sector Assessment (ESA) highlighted that while the PCF improved equitable and more allocation of resources among schools, due to the lack of evidence it is unclear if per-capita financing has improved overall efficiency and effectiveness in the use of public expenditure. Although the government continues to increase salaries of school workers, per-capita budgets are not adequately adjusted for inflation on a yearly basis due to fiscal space constraints. This is why the proportion of wage bill in per-capita (normative) budgets keep growing to unsustainable levels, leaving schools with fewer discretionary non-salary resources available to them. Given that per-capita funding allocations are endorsed by national government (MoES and MoF), funding for schools is not guaranteed and they are not regarded as ‘statutory’ line items (except wage bill).

The development partners in agreement with the Ministry of Education and Science agreed that further efficiency and effectiveness of public spending, e.g. in general secondary education with respect to per-capita funding formula implementation, should be undertaken with a focus on ensuring greater equity across the most disadvantaged groups, across regions and districts, and with greater engagement of subnational municipalities. Besides, the Government of Tajikistan acknowledges importance of subnational governments in financing education needs. The MoES seeks to establish uninterrupted and remote access to Tajikistan Financial Management Information System (TFMIS) of the Ministry of Finance, which would enable it to better monitor and analyze education spending by subnational governments, particularly through its new policy coordination and analytical unit that would be created and nurtured through the GPE’s System Capacity Grant.

How can you make a difference?

UNICEF is seeking an individual international consultant to support the MoES of education to support in the review of the effectiveness of the per-capita financing (PCF) mechanism in general secondary education based on a nationally representative sample and lessons learned from 2010-2021 and the feasibility of expanding the PCF to Technical-Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sub-sector. The international consultant will work with a team of national experts from the MoES and development partners/Local Education Group, who will support the consultant in the delivery of below tasks.

Scope of Work:

The international consultant, UNICEF team and the MoES’ technical experts will work together with appropriate governmental bodies, including, but not limited to, the Department of Economy and Planning of MoES, Department of Budget of Social Sector of the Ministry of Finance, along with other stakeholders to ensure effective and inclusive dialogue. PCF revision exercise will include monitoring visits to the school in the districts by the members of the WG to identify challenges and discuss with local education and finance authorities and school administrations the experience applying PCF mechanism in their budget planning and implementation. Activities supported by the consultant and the WG will include the revision of the PCF regulatory framework; orientation workshops for key staff in the MoES, MoF and other relevant ministries; and in-depth training for the MoES and MoF on proposed modifications to the PCF regulatory framework and PCF normative calculator. A PCF revision will be maintained, containing budgetary and expenditures data for all schools as well as indicators on resource usage (e.g. group sizes).

Under direct supervision by the Education Specialist and technical support from the national Working Group at the MoES the consultant is expected to perform and accomplish the following tasks:

1. Conduct technical consultation meetings and interviews (coordinated by UNICEF project team) on per-capita mechanism in general secondary education with the MoES and affiliated agencies, development partners (USAID, World Bank, EU, etc.), and with non-governmental organizations to understand the dynamics of existing key challenges and bottlenecks in implementation of the mechanism.
2. Conduct desk reviews on experiences, best practices and lessons learnt of other countries in the implementation and revision of per-capita mechanism in general secondary education and feasibility of expanding the PCF to Technical-Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sub-sector.
3. Conduct a comprehensive review and prepare a report with in-depth examination of the policy, regulatory and operational environment factors that influence the country's effective implementation of the per-capita mechanism in general secondary education, with the end goal of supporting improved targeting, scoping and partner engagement, with a focus on ensuring greater equity across the most disadvantaged groups, across regions and districts, and with greater engagement of subnational municipalities.
4. Conduct a comprehensive review and prepare a report including analysis of participation and exclusion trends, financial investment trends and available resources; mapping of projects and stakeholders in the sector; current challenges and opportunities etc.
5. Produce a report on the assessment of per-capita mechanism implementation status which describes the strengths, challenges, issues and problems, and recommendations for improvement of implementation.

In consultation with Development Coordination Council (DCC/LEG) partners propose preliminary revised mechanism of the per-capita financing and PCF normative calculator with specific recommendations and capacity building plan for concerned governmental institutions with which PCF to be implemented.

DUTY STATION/DURATION:

Duration: 60 working days (1 Sept. 2023 - 31 December 2023)

On-site working days: 40 days

Off-site working days: 20 days

Duty station: Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Supervisor: Section Chief (Education)

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

1. Education: Advanced university degree in the fields of economics and education, with focus on developing education policy planning and costing. PhD level in relevant field is an asset.
2. Work experience: At least 8 years of relevant professional experience in the area of economics in education, policy planning, management and operational levels.
3. Competencies: Strong coordination skills, analytical and conceptual thinking. Ability to work with large teams and guide policy discussions. Excellent writing, communication, and presentation skills with stakeholders. Ability to work under pressure and commitment to work to tight timeframe.
4. Languages: Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of Russian and Tajik is an asset.

Qualified candidates are requested to submit:

1. Cover letter/application/CV.
2. A technical proposal with proposed approach to managing the consultancy deliverables, showing understanding of tasks. Special attention should be paid to organizing the process of co-development and capacity building.
3. Financial quote for the consultancy in US Dollars per deliverable, stating also the timeframe for completion of deliverable and/or daily rate in US dollars including lump sum travel and subsistence costs estimates to the country.
4. Examples of previous, relevant work related to the deliverables.
5. Applications without a financial quote will not be considered.

Applications must be received in the system by 24 April 2023 on our website.

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.