Local consultancy to Conduct landscape analysis of curriculum relevance for inclusive education (audit) and capacity strengthening for key personnel at Ministry of Education and Training (Mo

Consultant Teaching & Training Programme & Policy

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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.

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For every child, Education

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The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is a crucial international human rights treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. Its purpose is to promote, protect, and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for persons with disabilities, emphasizing respect for their inherent dignity. The CRPD defines persons with disabilities as those with long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments that, when combined with various barriers, hinder their participation in society equally with others. In 2022, a collaborative effort between the United Nations Development System in Eswatini and the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini was undertaken to understand and document the situation of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in the country. The analysis also sought to identify areas where the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) has been successfully transformed into concrete policies, systems, programmes and services and identify areas where major bottlenecks, gaps, challenges and unattended priorities remain.

UNICEF commissioned a situation analysis of children with disabilities for two main purposes; a) To provide a clear picture of the current situation affecting children with disabilities, and b) To inform future programming for children with disabilities in UNICEF Eswatini’s Country Programme 2021-2025 and other programme interventions. In Eswatini, approximately 12% of the population consists of people with disabilities. Among them, 58% are women, and 82% reside in rural areas. These rural areas have a higher prevalence of functional difficulties among children aged 2 to 17. Specifically, around 13.3% of children in this age group experience challenges in various domains, including seeing, hearing, walking, fine motor skills, communication, learning, playing, and behavior control. Notably, Lubombo has the highest percentage of children with functional difficulties, reaching 18.2% for 2–4-year-olds and 17% for 5–17-year-olds. Additionally, household wealth quintile plays a role: the poorest quintile reports the highest percentage of 2–17-year-olds with functional difficulties (16.7%), while the richest quintile has the lowest prevalence in the same age category (10%). These findings highlight the importance of addressing disability inclusion and support services in Eswatini.

The exclusion of children with disabilities from education and employment opportunities remains a significant challenge. Shockingly, 52% of individuals with disabilities have not received any formal education. Among those who have, 22.3% hold primary school certificates, while 9.6% possess junior secondary school certificates. This limited access to education further hinders their inclusion in the labor market, exacerbated by societal stigma and discrimination. Advocacy for their rights and the implementation of inclusive policies are crucial steps toward a more equitable society. The 2019 Annual Education Census reveals that Eswatini has 12,737 learners with special needs. Among these learners, 52% are males, and 48% are females. Some learners are over-aged for primary education (15 to 21+), often due to late entry or repetition, which is common among children with special needs and disabilities. According to MICS, the percentage of children aged 36-59 months who are currently attending early childhood education with functional difficulties is 4.5%. Despite legal frameworks and action plans, many individuals with disabilities continue to face significant barriers in accessing education across all levels. UNESCO data from 2018 indicates that up to 17% of persons with disabilities encounter obstacles in their educational journey. These challenges manifest in lower attendance rates, reduced completion of primary and secondary education, and lower literacy rates among this population. The 2017 Population and Housing Census in Eswatini reveals that approximately 52% of people with disabilities have no formal education.

Efforts have been made to operationalize policies, including training opportunities, an inclusive curriculum, and specialized resources. Despite legislative and policy reforms, individuals with disabilities encounter barriers in accessing basic services in education, healthcare, and transportation. For instance, in healthcare access, there is limited availability of rehabilitation practitioners and assistive devices; lack of accommodations for visual and communication impairments; stigma and discrimination.

Education challenges, for children with disabilities include lack well-trained teachers and specialized devices, resulting in lower school attendance rates. Under the social services area, there is limited participation in society for people with disabilities, including exclusion from the labor force, decision-making, and governance. Additionally, high transportation costs and insufficient social support grants are common challenges faced by people with disabilities. To address some of the challenges faced, particularly in the education sector, a comprehensive analysis of inclusive education is needed, considering curriculum relevance, learning environments, teacher qualifications, and policies. An Inclusive Education Strategy based on the real-country situation can help ensure quality education for all children, including those in disabled and vulnerable situations.

The curriculum audit will play a crucial role in identifying gaps and informing curriculum reviews to ensure inclusivity. By adapting curricula to meet basic accessibility criteria, teaching and learning materials become readily available for all learners, including those with disabilities. Subsequently, capacity strengthening will be provided for selected teachers, inspectors, and National Curriculum Centre personnel and In-service training Department on curriculum adaptation and continuous learning assessment, to ensure equitable access to quality and inclusive education for all children in Eswatini. The curriculum audit will entail examining the existing curriculum to assess its alignment with MoET Inclusive Education goals or principles, as articulated in the Education Sector Policy (2018) and Standards for Inclusive Education (2019).

The inclusive curricula ensures that educational materials and practices consider diverse backgrounds, identities, perspectives, and experiences. Non-Discrimination is another key element ensuring the curriculum does not discriminate against any group based on characteristics such as disability, race and gender. The curriculum should be embracing diversity, representing multiple backgrounds, identities, and perspective. It should foster tolerance, an environment where different viewpoints are respected. Furthermore, curricula should ensure inclusion and integrate historically marginalized groups into the educational system and curricula should curriculum reflect the needs and experiences of the learners. To address these issues, the curriculum audit will adopt a comprehensive approach. The different types of audits serve a distinct purpose, however, combining them will provide a comprehensive assessment. Therefore, the curriculum audit will combine elements of several types of curriculum audit including Diversity Audit which assess which backgrounds, identities, perspectives, or experiences are represented in the curriculum. It also considers how diverse the curriculum should be. Inclusion Audit: evaluate whether the curriculum provides “mirrors” (reflecting students’ experiences) and “windows” (exposing them to different experiences) for learners. Equity Audit: focus on building systems that allow all community members to engage fully without undue burdens. Consider how the curriculum supports equity-minded practices. Justice Audit: which examine whose safety is prioritized and whose views are challenged within the curriculum.

PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The purpose of the assignment is to conduct curriculum audit in support of inclusive education policy, to ensure adherence to principles of non-discrimination, diversity and tolerance and inclusion of children and youth with disability in the learning materials for ownership and relevance.

SCOPE OF WORK

A. Objective

The assignment aims to conduct a comprehensive landscape analysis / curriculum audit in relation to inclusive education. The analysis will cover curriculum relevance, learning environments, teacher qualifications, and policies at both national and school levels. The findings will inform essential reforms in curriculum to ensure equitable education access for all children, including those with disabilities, to acquire core academic skills, basic cognitive skills, and essential life skills.

B. Activities and tasks

The consultant will undertake the following activities and tasks:

1. Conduct desk review Conduct an initial review of country-specific literature to gain a broad understanding of the education system, policies, strategies, regulations, and information pertaining more specifically to inclusive education.

2. Develop and deliver an inception report: The consultant will develop a comprehensive inception report detailing the assignment’s methodology, consultation approach, key stakeholders, and a proposed workplan for the curriculum audit. This report will then be presented to a technical team consisting of the Senior Inspector SEN, Chief Inspector Primary, Chief Inspector Secondary, Director of the National Curriculum Centre, and a teacher representative.

3. Prepare landscape analysis report with recommendations. 3.1 Conduct stakeholder consultations to source information from stakeholders, and stakeholder validation engagement 3.2 Conduct desk review 3.3 Collect relevant data on the curriculum relevance. 3.4 Undertake an in-depth analysis of the curriculum and delivery capacity for key personnel. 3.5 Develop a comprehensive landscape analysis report that identifies gaps and weaknesses in the curriculum. Based on these findings, clear recommendations will be provided to enhance the curriculum, making it more inclusive and supportive for all learners, including those with disabilities.

4. Validation of findings The consultant will develop an initial draft of the analysis for validation with key stakeholders convened by MoET, to present the preliminary results and compile any relevant inputs to finalize the report.

5. Present Report The consultant will adjust the report accordingly, and prepare a slide deck outlining the process, results and recommendations. The final audit and assessment report will be presented at a stakeholders’ meeting by the consultant.

6. Capacity strengthening of key role players. Conduct capacity strengthening for selected teachers, inspectors and national curriculum centre personnel, and In-service training department on curriculum adaptation and continuous learning assessment (Training of Trainers).

7. Capacity strengthening report. Provide report on capacity strengthening workshops on curriculum adaptation and continuous learning assessment with recommendations, including slide deck and reference materials for cascade training of key MoET personnel.

C. WORK ASSIGNMENT OVERVIEW

Tasks

Deliverable/output

Timeline/deadline

Inception report development

Inception report

23 September (3 days)

Prepare curriculum landscape analysis zero report

Curriculum landscape analysis draft

30 September-18 October2024 (16 days)

Validation of findings

Validation report

21-23 October 2024 (2 days)

Presentation of report with slide-deck

Final technical report and slide-deck

28-30 October 2024 (3 days)

Training of key role players

Training workshops

11-13 November 2024 (2 days)

Presentation of report training report

Training report

15 November 2024 (1 day))

D. Schedule of activities: consultancy will be for 30 days (about 4 and a half weeks) spread over 3 months.

E. Working relationships

The consultant will report to the UNICEF Education Specialist working with the Education Officer, in consultation with the Technical Team. The consultant will perform all deliverables and address any suggestions, questions, concerns, and guidance provided by the UNICEF team, in consultation with the Ministry of Education. The consultant will be responsible for collecting the necessary information sources to undertake the desk review, develop the necessary instruments to collect data and analyze data, and organize calls and meetings with key informants as necessary and/or requested by UNICEF and MoET.

F. Payment schedule

As per UNICEF policy, payment is made against approved deliverables. No advance payment is allowed unless in exceptional circumstances against bank guarantee, subject to a maximum of 30 per cent of the total contract value in cases where advance purchases, for example for supplies or travel, may be necessary. The consultant may not publish or disseminate report, data collection tools, collected data or any other documents produced from this consultancy without the express permission of and acknowledgement of UNICEF.

The consultancy fee payment will be triggered by the submission of the following key deliverables. • 1st payment: First draft Landscape Analysis Report (30% of the consultancy fee) • 2nd payment: Final technical report / final deliverable (70% of the consultancy fee)

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

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED

☒ Masters

This consultancy requires a Masters’ Degree in Education or related fields. Specialization in Curriculum Development or Inclusive Education or Special Education Needs will be considered an added advantage

Relevant work experience required (in years):

At least 5 years’ experience working with children with special education needs or on issues pertaining to special education needs and curriculum development, including but not limited to the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of special education needs programs. Proven experience designing public policy to improve access to services and inclusivity will be considered an asset.

Specialized skills and/or training if needed:

Data collection, systematization, and analysis; report-writing.

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.

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Added 5 days ago - Updated 6 hours ago - Source: unicef.org