OVERVIEW

Parent Sector : Education Sector (ED)

Duty Station: Cyprus (On-site)

Job Family: Education

Type of contract : Non Staff

Duration of contract : 6 months

Recruitment open to : External candidates

Application Deadline (Midnight Paris Time) : 11-MAR-2024

UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism

Long Description

APPLICATIONS

The Expression of Interest in one single PDF file in English must be sent by email to h.le-thu@unesco.org and educationpolicy@unesco.org no later than 12:00 pm Monday 11 March 2024 (Paris time). Only complete application submitted before or by the deadline will be considered. Please do not apply through the “APPLY NOW” button on the page.

OVERVIEW OF THE WORK ASSIGNMENT

BACKGROUND

In partnership with the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) of the European Commission, UNESCO is providing support to the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth (MESY) of Cyprus to develop an operational framework for the implementation of all-day schooling in all lower secondary schools. The support is supposed to contribute to three main outcomes in the longer-term: (i) improved student’s academic performance, learning experience and outcomes notably through enhanced language competences and life skills, (ii) reduced early school leaving and better inclusion particularly among students with migrant and refugee backgrounds, and (iii) improved student wellbeing through social emotional support and learning and mitigating anti-social behaviour.

The support will be provided over a 24 month period in the form of 6 deliverables, which are clustered around 3 main areas of focus: (i) evidence generation, (ii) development of full day lower secondary schooling plan, and (iii) project communication, monitoring and learning. The project activities started in October 2023, and are on-going. A project team is organized under the Section of Education Policy of the Division for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems, UNESCO in Paris, which is responsible for the day-to-day support, communication and coordination with the project’s beneficiaries and partners.

SCOPE OF WORK, SUPERVISION, TEAMWORK AND ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT

In close consultation with, and upon the approval of the Project Steering Committee, the contractor’s is expected to provide support for data collection and analysis, organization of consultations with stakeholders, organization and evaluation of the pilot implementation of all-day schooling and other on-site support for the project implementation. The number and intensity of working days per month are estimated to be at an equivalent of 12 person days/month at middle to senior level between March 2024 and August 2024, and 6 person days/month at middle to senior level between September 2024 and May 2025. These are provided as an indication of the workload to enable interested applicants to provide an accurate cost proposal over a 15-month period.

The contractor will be responsible for conducting activities and submitting the deliverables as specified in Section 4 below by the indicated timeline. Adjustments to the timeline should be expected as per the discussion with and decision by the Project Lead. The costs associated with the translation to and from Greek language, travel within the country, and equipment should not be counted and will not be considered for the proposal.

The work will involve close collaboration and coordination with the Project Lead and other project team members based in Paris. Technical guidance will be provided by UNESCO staff through regular communication via email, TEAMS call, phone, etc. and where relevant, face-to-face meetings. The contractor will work under the direct supervision of the Project Lead.

Long Description

ASSIGNMENT

In close consultation with, and upon the approval of the Project Steering Committee, the contractor is expected to perform the following tasks:

(i) Collect and/or verify additional data, including through the mini-survey, focus group discussion, and follow-up with national stakeholder groups (e.g. teachers, school principals, parents, students), that may be required for the analysis of the current state-of-play of lower secondary education;
(ii) Collect and analyze further information and data related to school infrastructure and facilities, such as classrooms, laboratories, libraries, sports facilities, availability and condition of teaching and learning materials, the accessibility and safety of school environments, etc., that allows the assessment of the school’s capacity to provide extended hours of academic and/or extra-curricular activities in school. This also includes the possibility of conducting an inventory or assessment of the current status of school infrastructure/facilities;
(iii) Provide on-site support to UNESCO for the organization and facilitation of policy dialogues and consultations with stakeholders on reform options and the development of an operational plan for the implementation of all-day schooling at the lower secondary education level in close coordination with the UNESCO project team;
(iv) Support in the identification of candidate schools for, and monitoring of the pilot implementation of all-day schooling;
(v) Contribute to the evaluation of the pilot implementation activities, document the experiences and provide recommendations for the nationwide implementation of all-day schooling;
(vi) Provide other on-site support to the MESY and/or UNESCO team as needed for the implementation of the project.

In line with UNESCO’s overall gender mainstreaming strategy, the contractor is expected to integrate a gender perspective in all activities and apply gender mainstreaming concepts whenever feasible.

DELIVERABLES

All deliverables shall be submitted to the UNESCO Section of Education Policy in English. Feedback will be provided to the contractor according to the timeline to be agreed upon when the contract is signed. To the extent possible, the contractor shall reflect comments and suggested modifications submitted by the Project Steering Committee.

The contractor is expected to submit the following deliverables, with the corresponding tentative timeline, to UNESCO:

a) Data and/or written explanatory notes or written inputs for the state-of-play report (approximately 30 pages) within a month after the contract is signed.
b) Narrative reports on the outcomes of the policy dialogues and consultations organized (not more than 10 pages for each meeting/consultation organized) within 10 months after the contract is signed
c) A report detailing the criteria for selecting the school site, and the proposed indicators for monitoring the pilot implementation of all-day schooling within 3 months after the contract is signed
d) An evaluation report of the pilot implementation of full-day schooling, within 14 months after the contract is signed.

Long Description

COMPETENCIES (Core / Managerial)

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REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

The contractor will demonstrate extensive experience in education policy research and analysis on themes related to secondary education, with a focus on school/education planning, education programme implementation, monitoring and evaluation, as well as the ability to mobilize country-level expertise for data collection and policy implementation.

Qualifications and skills of the lead consultant of the firm/institution which would be considered as assets include:

• At least 10 years of professional experience in policy research and/or sector planning in the field of education, with special emphasis on secondary education, or other relevant areas;
• Advanced academic degrees in education policy, planning, curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, education leadership or any other relevant fields;
• Knowledge and practical experiences in implementing school reform, curriculum reform or implementing full-day schooling;
• Excellent English and Greek proficiency (written and oral);
• Experience in working in the relevant fields in Cyprus is required, while knowledge of and working experience at the regional/international level are desirable.

In addition to the above-stated requirements for the lead consultant, junior team members must have an advanced university degree and approximately 4 – 5 years of experience in a field related to education policy and planning, curriculum, pedagogy, assessment or in other relevant areas. It is highly desirable for junior team members to have at least 2 to 3 prior working experiences with other EU-funded projects related to education and/or school education reforms, supported by 1 to 2 references.

SUBMISSION OF EXPRESSION OF INTEREST

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