National Consultant-Technical Assistance for adaptation of the Nepal School Education Sector Plan, Kathmandu Nepal, 11 months

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

How can you make a difference?

BACKGROUND

With the state restructuring according to Nepal’s 2015 Constitution having been rolled out in terms of institutional setup and mandates across the three tiers of Government, Nepal’s previous five regions and 752 districts have accordingly been replaced by seven provincial governments and 753 local (municipal-level) governments as the new second and third tiers of government. As part of this decentralization, all functions and functionaries that had previously been managed by central, district and village (VDC) authorities relating to school education have now been transferred to the provincial and local governments. New legislation, institutions, and administrative procedures are being formalized for the administration of this new setup as prescribed in the Constitution. This means that local governments have the mandate to develop their own education plans and budgets alongside those of the federal government. As the Government of Nepal is in the process of finalizing the new long-term SESP, which is set to succeed the School Sector Development Plan (SSDP) at the end of the fiscal year 2021-22 and run up to 2030, it is paramount for the successful initiation and implementation of the new sector plan that the strategies and activities are adequately owned, contextualized by the 753 local governments and reflected accordingly in the Local Government long term strategic plans and annual work plans and budgets. The MoEST has established a SESP Steering Committee and SESP Technical Committee in 2019 to oversee the SESP development process, which included supporting seven provinces and 21 Local Governments in the development of their respective provincial- and local government education sector plans. With the SESP being finalized and soon to be approved by the federal Government, the Government is looking to initiate the second phase of the process, which is the calibration of the federal SESP with the provincial and local education sector plans. UNICEF in its role as Focal Point for the LEDPG and grant agent of the has been the lead agency in providing the MoEST and SESP Committees technical assistance in the drafting of a joint ToR and accordingly undertaking the 2020 Education Sector Analysis, and based on this, the development of the new SESP. Moving forward, UNICEF will continue to lead the mobilization and coordination of technical assistance for the finalization of the SESP and the adaptation of the federal plan into the provincial and local education sector plans.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment: On behalf of the Local Education Development Partner Group (LEDPDG), UNICEF has been acting as grant agent for the GPE Education Sector Program Development Grant (ESPDG) from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) that has been acquired to support the ESA/ESP development process. As committed to the LEDPG, UNICEF is seeking continue providing technical assistance as it is in the process for applying to be Grant Agent for the new GPE Strategic capacity Grant (SCG). With the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) requiring technical guidance and support in supporting Local Governments to contextualize the School Education Sector Plan (SESP) into their local government plans, UNICEF is seeking to mobilize a technical advisor for the SESP Steering Committee and SESP Technical Committee to ensure evidence-based and need-based strategies to be applied to systematically engage with local governments on this, sensitive to their context, need and capacity, to ensure ownership and capacity to implement the new SESP at all levels. The technical assistance as specified in this ToR will be mobilized in support of the processes and timelines agreed between the Government of Nepal and the education sector development partners. In this regard, the roles of the technical expert required have been reflected accordingly in the 2019 joint ToR that has been prepared to ensure a common understanding and align support within the LEG to the GON’s approach for the development of the new education sector plan. The consultancy will ensure sufficient technical expertise to support the SESP Committees for developing a strategy and engage with local governments accordingly for the adaptation and contextualization of the SESP in terms of targets, activities, costing, implementation arrangements and M&E frameworks.

Scope of Work:

The expert will be seconded to the MoEST and the chair of the SESP Technical Committee will serve as counterpart. Additionally, the expert will be working closely with the UNICEF Nepal Education Specialist that supports UNICEF in its role as LEDPG Focal Point on the input required on joint documents and processes between the Government and the LEDPG. Furthermore, the expert will liaise with other central line agencies, such as the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MoFAGA), Ministry of Finance (MoF) as per the need. Finally, the expert will liaise with the JFPs that are looking to subscribe to the new SESP in the FY 2022-23 to understand joint priorities and support modalities that are being developed as part of Nepal’s Sector Wide Approach (SWAp).

Tasks/Milestone:

Deliverables/Outputs:

Timeline

%age Payment Schedule

Consulting SESP Technical Committee on a SESP calibration exercise

Initiate and submit SESP calibration action plan and ToR of required technical assistance

April 2022

20%

Supporting SESP Technical Committee on identification of required TA to undertake SESP calibration exercise

Supporting MoEST and GPE Grant Agent in development of the Strategic capacity Grant application

Development and submission of GPE SCG grant application

June 2022

20%

Supporting MoEST in the design of the SESP institutional capacity assessment and plan (ICAP) development

Submission of draft ICAP

July 2022

20%

Supporting MoEST in the review and updating of the common framework for technical assistance and direct funding for the Nepal education SWAp

Submission of draft updated Common TA framework

September 2022

20%

Providing input to the ESP toolkit for local governments

Review and submission of draft toolkit with recommendations

December 2022

20%

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

• A master’s degree in education, M&E or related discipline is required.
• A PhD in same field of study will be considered a strong asset;
• Minimum of 10 years of professional experience in global, regional and national policy and planning processes related to education sector development.
• Be able to demonstrate (preferably having authored/ co-authored publications on the Nepal education sector and the country’s federal transition.
• Be fluent in English and Nepalese and comfortable having high level verbal/written communication in both languages.
• Previous work experience in UN agencies at senior level will be considered an asset.

Competencies required:

• Strategic thinking, innovative and conceptual skills,
• High level coordination, networking and facilitation skills
• Analytical skill

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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.

Qualified females and candidates from the under-represented ethnic groups are strongly encouraged to apply.