National Consultant: Equity Index Data Analyst, Kathmandu, Nepal (Only for Nepalese Nationals)

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

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST), with the support of UNICEF, commissioned an independent evaluation of the of the Consolidated Equity Strategy for the School Education Sector {Equity Strategy} implementation, following its initiation in 2014. The main objectives of the Equity Strategy are to reduce the current disparities in (i) access & participation and (ii) learning outcomes for children in basic and secondary public education in Nepal. The strategy presents a two-fold approach in meeting these objectives, in (i) the development and use of an Equity in Education Index, and (ii) a consolidation and further targeting of current strategies deployed by the Government and Development Partners to strengthen an equity/need based approach.

The Equity Index is a tool which gives a unique percentage (between 0 and 100%) for each district. The initial Equity Index captured and aggregated data relating to three components:

• Access to school: it takes into account the number of out-of-school-children (OOSC) in that district
• Internal efficiency: it considers the survival rate from Grade 1 to Grade 8 (basic education) in that district
• Learning: it includes SLC pass rate for that district

How can you make a difference?

The consultant will provide technical support to the Education Management Information System (EMIS) section in the Centre for Education and Human Resource Development (CEHRD) to support the implementation of the costed Equity Strategy Evaluation Plan and joint EMIS action plan.

Scope of Work:

The expert will support the Government, in particular the EMIS section in the CEHRD and the Equity and Inclusion SESP Joint Working Group lead, with the following activities and processes:

• updating of the equity index formula and the computation of the equity index scores for federal-, provincial- and local government level.

• Supporting the embedding of the equity index and simulation tools for establishing benchmarks against the SESP Program Result Framework

• Support the quantitative analysis and publications on the Positive Deviance research under the Data Must Speak initiative

• Support the quantitative analysis under the Out Of School Children Initiative (OOSCI)

• Support the work on the thematic analysis of the education-related census data

Duration of Contract: The total duration of the contract is for 8 months tentatively starting from 01 October 2023.

Deliverables for this Assignment:

Tasks/Milestone****Deliverables/Outputs****Timeline****Proposed Fee ( In Nepalese Currency)Update the learning outcome indicators in the equity index and embedding in EMIS- Formula and computation of the learning indicator, using grade 8 exam scores for all 753 local levels and 7 provinces - Develop a proxy that is statistically sound to use for local governments that are yet to upload their grade 8 exam scores in EMIS - Compute the equity index (including all three dimensions of access, participation and learning) for the 753 local governments - Statistical input for the embedding of the equity index into EMIS - Review of the tools and methods used for the final analysis of the positive deviance study

By end Nov 2023 - Validate the equity index computation against the 2019 MICS and the 2022 Census data - Develop the context-index and resource-index (including PMECs) and develop option paper for Government to explore using these as part of the composite index for informing education sector planning and budgeting processes at federal and local level - Support the benchmarking of 150 LGs against the SESP PRF

By end Jan 2024 Support the Data Must Speak initiative- Support the Core Technical Team in the statistical analysis of the remaining phases of the positive deviance research - Support the final report of the Data Must Speak positive deviance research - Presentation for the 2023 Joint Review Meeting on the Positive Deviance Research outcomes - co-author journal publication with Government and DMS team) - Support the thematic analysis of the 2021 Census data for education

By end March 2024 Final report with recommendations on strengthening data driven policy and planning processesBy end June 2024 To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Masters in statistics. A Ph.D. in statistics will be considered a strong asset.
• At least 10 years in experience in a research capacity, including a minimum of 8 years in a leading role within a research institute.
• Experience of working with Government data sets
• Published articles in peer reviewed journals relating to statistics
• In-depth knowledge of Nepali government and educational systems and processes and strong networks within development partner and government agencies.
• Proven coordination and collaborative skills and experience with the ability to manage technical processes with neutrality and sensitivity.
• Proficiency in Nepali and English and strong communication and data presentation skills.
• Familiarity with indexes such as the Human Opportunity Index, Child Deprivation Index, and other indexes based on the capability approach.
• Excellent organizational skills and the ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks.
• Desire to work with a global team across geographic, cultural and language differences.
• Skills on applying a gender and social inclusion lens in analysis.

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:

Request to submit financial proposal as per deliverables in Nepalese currency.

Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. Candidates from under-represented ethnic groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

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.