National Education Consultant (Feasibility Study for 2 Years Pre-primary Education in GPS); Dhaka; Bangladesh

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.

How can you make a difference?

Background:

Pre-primary Education has the most significant impact on children’s lifelong development and learning. Quality pre-Primary Education supports children to achieve vital school readiness skills that have a positive influence to achieve learning outcomes. PPE also fosters children’s development in physical, intellectual, linguistic, and social domains. The Education for All Jomtien and Dakar Declarations, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have emphasized the importance of PPE for young children.

Pre-primary education in Bangladesh started following the National Curriculum and Textbook Board developed guidance called ‘Dekhashona’. However, due to teacher insufficiency and infrastructural barriers, Pre-primary could not expand as expected.

Based on global commitments, a pre-primary education framework was developed in 2008 following a rigors process that created a provision for introducing pre-primary education for 3- to 5-year-old children in Bangladesh. Based on this approved Framework, pre-primary education was taught in primary schools all over the country for 5+ children through an interim package. In 2014, a formal curriculum was developed and introduced to conduct the teaching-learning of pre-primary classes all over the country. The Education Policy 2010 stated the provision for Pre-primary education for 5+ children and gradually expanded it to 4+ children, which denoted the provision for introducing 2 years of PPE in Bangladesh. The 8th five-year plan and SDGs 2030 have put emphasis on introducing 2 years of PPE in Bangladesh. The Government’s Election Manifesto 2018 also set a target to expand the coverage of pre-primary education from 1 year to 2 years.

In this context, the honorable Prime Minister approved the draft summary report on 23 June 2020, to introduce pre-primary Education for 4+ children. The approved summary has the following steps in the 1st stage:

• Finalization of the planning to introduce a 2-year pre-primary education in consultation with all the relevant stakeholders
• Conducting a study for introducing 2-years pre-primary
• Develop that teaching-learning material and curriculum for 4+ children through National curriculum and text textbook board
• Formulating an inter-ministerial committee for developing the early childhood development and care policy, planning, and implementation
• Introducing the two years of pre-primary in the 3214 primary schools in each cluster using the existing infrastructure facilities
• Recruitment and training of the required number of teachers
• Ensuring regular health check-ups for the children through community health clinics.

Following the decision of the Prime Minister, multiple initiatives were taken to introduce two years of PPE in government primary schools. These initiatives include –

1. Planning for a pilot of Pre-Primary Education for 4+ children from January 2023;
2. Development of the two-year PPE curriculum including learning competencies for 4+ children by NCTB. The new competencies are developed based on the existing curriculum of the 5+ children and consider the 4 domains of child development and 8 areas of learning and Early Learning and Development standards (ELDS);
3. to support the piloting of the two-year PPE, an interim curriculum along with teaching learning materials and a teacher’s guide for 4+ children were developed in June 2020. The Ministry formed and approved a committee to spearhead the interim package development process. As part of the development, the committee conducted a comparative analysis and synthesis of the existing teaching-learning materials from different organizations and also organized six workshops with stakeholders. The interim package was approved in November 2020 by the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education;

4. selection of 3214 Government Primary Schools was completed based on the following criteria:

5. one school from each cluster (total clusters – 2601)

6. 1000 schools from the 10 poorest districts: Kishoreganj, Kurigram, Khagrachhari, Gaibandha, Chapai Nawabganj, Jamalpur, Dinajpur, Bandarban, Magura, and Rangpur.

Note: To avoid duplication, cluster-specific schools were not selected for the 10 poorest districts.

5. While the interim package was in development, NCTB also continued developing the comprehensive 2 years pre-primary Curriculum following the new curriculum framework. On 22 June 2022, the final curriculum for 2-year pre-primary education was approved by the Ministry. NCTB is now working on developing the relevant teaching-learning materials supporting the new two-year pre-primary curriculum.

As directed in the approved pre-primary education summary report, a feasibility study is now planned before introducing the two years pre-primary education for 4+ children and hence is the ToR.

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

The purpose of this assignment is to undertake a feasibility study for introducing 2 years of pre-primary in Bangladesh.

The objectives of the feasibility study are to explore the following areas for implementing the pilot for 2 years PPE:

• System readiness: assessment of the government’s existing facilities and resources (infrastructure, human resources, capacity building provisions, and teaching learning materials) already available for pre-primary
• Community readiness: family/community perception analysis and market demand for school-based education for 4+ years old children
• Existing service provisions for 4+ and 5+ year-olds offered by both Government and non-government (including private) service providers
• Opportunities for 2 years pre-primary: This includes recommendations of feasible models for pre-primary (which can be inspired by models from neighboring countries with similar contexts), sharing of existing resources, and others
• Challenges and risks: Assessment of the challenges and risks of introducing 2 years of PPE in the existing structure.

Specific research questions for the study are:

1. What are the existing facilities in pre-primary education governance in terms of infrastructure, teachers, and teacher training?
2. How these existing facilities i.e., infrastructures, trained teachers, play, and other teaching learning materials can be utilized for introducing pre-primary for 4+ children?
3. What are the existing service provisions for 4+ and 5+ children in government and non-government and private sectors in terms of infrastructures, teaching-learning materials, learning hours and time duration, teacher training, and coverage by the proportion of children?
4. What minimum facilities are needed in the primary schools to introduce 2-year pre-primary?
5. What can be a feasible model to introduce pre-primary education for 4 years of children in each cluster of primary schools?
6. What are the challenges and risks of introducing 2 years of PPE in the existing Government’s structure and facilities?

Methodology

This study is a qualitative study in nature as it will link sequentially to a pre-existing quantitative data collection effort according to the following methodologies:

• Desk review
• Key Informant Interview
• Focus Group Discussions
• Review of secondary data and analysis
• Classroom observation

Target group:

• Head Teacher,
• PPE Teacher
• Parents
• SMC members
• PPE Education Specialists

Timeline of the feasibility study 104 days over 5 months.

Please download the TOR For Major Tasks/Assignments.

TOR_PPE feasibility study.docx

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in Education, Psychology, Child Development, or Social science discipline *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
• A minimum of [5 years] of relevant professional experience in research and study on PPE.
• Experience in working closely with Govt and Development Agencies is required.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergencies is considered an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

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 including 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 a reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterward 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, program 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.