National Contractor for Subnational Holistic and integrated Early Childhood Development

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

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, advocate

Children in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) face challenges in accessing quality education services, and this situation has been exacerbated due to the COVID19 pandemic, which brought lengthy school closures. Although school participation rates have recently increased at secondary education levels, there remains low participation in early childhood education (ECE); and a slight decline in participation at the primary school level. According to Indonesian education statistics (2021) 75 percent of children aged 0-6 years in NTT have not/or did not attend preschool. By 2020 the length of schooling for students in NTT was an average of 8 years, or until grade two of junior secondary school (Susenas, 2021).

Regarding education quality, NTT children face significant challenges acquiring basic literacy and numeracy skills, with proficiency levels in both these areas the lowest among Indonesia’s 34 provinces. Only 35 percent of children in grade 4 and 24 percent in grade 8 have minimum proficient reading skills. Numeracy capability is even lower, with only 25 percent of children in grade 4 and 5 percent in grade 8 having minimum proficiency in mathematics.

The high rate of young children who do not attend ECD centers and the poor school readiness at preschool level contribute to low basic literacy and numeracy skills in upper education levels. Regarding the importance of children's transition from pre-school to primary school, studies have shown that it is a crucial milestone of early child development. This transition marks significant changes in a child’s cognitive, emotional and social development, which require children to respond according to certain standards. Children with insufficient cognitive, emotional, and social skills are vulnerable during their transition to primary school. Therefore, it is critical to emphasize the learning differentiation for children from cognitively, emotionally, and socially disadvantaged backgrounds.

For ECE, the Government of Indonesia has embarked on several initiatives in the past ten years to improve access to and quality of services in this sub-sector. While the national HI-ECD policy, Presidential Regulation, 60 2013, lays out the foundations for a strong early childhood development (ECD) system, there remain significant gaps in services concerning coverage, equity, inclusion, and quality. To tackle poor access and quality in the sub-sector in NTT, UNICEF, in partnership with the Government of Indonesia and the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), delivered a 5-year ECD program in NTT province from 2016 to 2020. This partnership aimed to reach children in remote and rural communities with good practice and developmentally appropriate holistic and integrated ECD (HI ECD) services. Evidence shows this programme brought positive outcomes to children across several major outcomes, including child development, quality learning environments, parents, and community involvement, government support, teacher mentoring and the effective delivery of a holistic, integrative approach.

The pandemic has also severely disrupted the learning and social and emotional development of children from pre-school through to secondary education. All 200,000 ECD centers across the country are closed for a lengthy period, affecting over 4 million young children.

How can you make a difference?

• Technical support to institutionalize, scaleup, and sustain good practices and approaches developed so far under the HI-ECD programme in Kupang District. The activity includes a showcase on HI-ECD programming in Kupang District to encourage scaling up in Kota Kupang and Timor Tengah Selatan (TTS) district.
• Providing critical review and feedback to support Implementing Partner/s during program implementation, including developing topics and supporting the facilitators in ECD centres and parenting activities.
• Advocacy and system strengthening to promote HI-ECD in NTT Provinces. Technical assistance will be provided to the district governments to continue raising awareness of the importance of HI-ECD, the role of cross-sectoral coordination through the HI-ECD Taskforce, and the development of district/provincial policies, guidelines, and action plans to strengthen quality. Technical assistance for district government budgeting and planning for HI-ECD will be a core part of this work, to promote ongoing sustainability and institutionalization.
• Technical support to supervise and monitor HI-ECD activities. Technical support to systematically monitor activities will be provided to ECD centres to ensure quality service delivery including the preparation for the re-opening of ECD centres and the implementation of health protocols according to the Joint Ministerial Decree (SKB 4 Menteri) during Covid-19.
• Providing support and assistance to the Implementing Partner/s to ensure ECD kits and EGL learning materials are well distributed to all ECD centres and primary schools, and assisting Kupang Field Office in managing local materials procurement.
• Providing sound technical expertise by introducing creative and inclusive literacy programs at preschool and primary school levels, including developing and facilitating a knowledge management system to ensure primary school-trained teachers share their inclusive literacy practices.
• Providing support to the Social Behaviour Change (SBC) team to develop IEC materials in Kupang Field Office.
• Providing support to UNICEF staff during field visits and meetings and regular updates.
• Providing quality input into briefing and reporting documents, as needed.

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

• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline, preferably with particular training in ECD.
• 5 years of progressive experience in programme implementation or research on holistic and integrative early childhood development (HI ECD)
• Demonstrated knowledge of HI ECD, parenting education, capacity building of frontline workers, monitoring and evaluation.
• Demonstrated track record of accomplished research and advocacy at different levels of government (national and sub-national).
• Ability to work independently and communicate well with a variety of stakeholders.
• Excellent spoken and written skills in both Bahasa Indonesia and English.
• Prior experience working on UNICEF programmes, considered an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies:

• Builds and Maintains Partnerships
• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
• Drive to achieve results for impact
• Innovates and embraces change
• Manages ambiguity and complexity
• Thinks and acts strategically

• Works collaboratively with others

  ToR of Education Consultant.pdf

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.

This position is not considered an elevated risk role. However, UNICEF reserves the right to conduct further vetting/ assessment within the scope of child safeguarding as appropriate.

Remarks:

The screening of your application will be conducted based on the information in your profile. Before applying, we strongly suggest that you review your profile to ensure accuracy and completeness. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. This vacancy is open for Indonesians only.

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.