Hardship Level (not applicable for home-based)

D

Family

CONS Local

2024-08-25

August 26, 2024

I. PROJECT DETAILS
Requesting office (hiring office): UNHCR Sub-office, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.
Title of project: Persons of concern have optimal access to equitable quality education.
Purpose of project (summary): To provide education services for refugee children and adolescents, including implementing ECD, primary and secondary education, and lifelong learning for adolescents.

1. General Background of Project or Assignment, Operational Context:
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is mandated to provide international protection to refugees and seek permanent solutions. In August 2017, some 740,000 refugees crossed into Bangladesh in the region’s swiftest and largest population movement in last 50 years. As of 31 May 2024, six years into the refugee response, 981,064 Rohingya refugees live in Bangladesh, including 43,056 refugees who arrived in 1990 and are living at both Nayapara Registered Camp (NRC) and Kutupalong Registered Camp (KRC), of which 52 percent of the population are children.

The Bangladesh Curriculum (Bangla version) was used from 2007 to 2018 in the schools in KRC and NRC from pre-primary to grade 8, and it was approved by the Government of Bangladesh (GoB). In 2017, after the influx of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, the GoB issued an education directive outlining that the new arrivals (referred by the GoB as Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals – FDMN) would only be allowed to attend informal learning using English and Myanmar as the language of instruction, and the use of Bangla is prohibited. This new directive has created obstacles since 2020 (until 2019, GoB was providing Bangladeshi curriculum textbooks for the students of registered camps) to continue formal education for registered refugee students residing in the registered camp. UNHCR has repeatedly advocated with GoB for using the Bangladeshi curriculum (either Bangla or English version) in Registered Camps, which was not approved. Since the resumption of the resettlement program targeting Registered Refugees, UNHCR approached the GoB and proposed to roll out an English curriculum in the Registered Camps to better prepare them for their integration into the resettlement countries, mostly the US. The Pearson Edexcel Curriculum is identified as the most suitable option and was approved by the RRRC in February 2024.

From January 2024, UNHCR Partner developed materials adopting the contents from the global English version curriculum including the English version of NCTB books. UNHCR plan to introduce the Pearson Edexcel Curriculum in phase approached including introduction in KG to Grade 1 in August 2024 followed by in Grade 2 to Grade 8 in January 2025 with a year lower grade material. Transitioning to a new curriculum requires a bridging program to equip students with essential skills for the adoption of the same. UNHCR plans to develop a two months bridging course for mathematics and English for grades 2-8, focusing on content level gaps between existing materials and the Pearson curriculum. This includes language of instruction gaps to be addressed and adopted with the new curriculum. UNHCR is, therefore, looking to hire a consultant with experience in the implementation of the Pearson curriculum or expertise in developing curriculums for the bridging program.

2. Occupational Safety and Health Considerations
To view occupational safety and health considerations for specific duty stations, please visit this link: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel ohg0
Specific Occupational Safety and Health Considerations to this assignment (if applicable):

3. Purpose and Scope of Assignment:
UNHCR is looking to hire a consultant to carry out activities aligned with the objectives for smooth preparation for implementing the Pearson Edexcel Curriculum.
Objectives:
• To develop a bridging program for mathematics and English for grades 2-8 and contribute in quality implementation.
• To develop a learning outcome assessment guideline aligning with the Pearson standard.

Scope of Work and Proposed Activities:
The following activities are to be implemented to meet the current operational needs as per the objectives above. The principal activities shall include but are not limited to.
1. Liaison with the Pearson Bangladesh team to receive all technical support including receiving all relevant resources.
2. Facilitate school visit; FGDs with students, teachers, partners staffs and parents; KII with Head teachers, partners technical head to identify the gaps and as well as potential solutions.
3. Facilitate workshops with teachers and partner staffs to validate the findings and proposed solutions (identifying contents and develop lesson distribution plan for two months).
4. Facilitate workshops with teachers and partner’s technical staffs to guide on developing brief lesson plan for bridging program.
5. Develop the bridging program materials for Mathematics and English for grades 2 through 8.
6. Co-facilitate induction training with CODEC technical personal for bridging program for grade 2-8 teachers.
7. Develop learning outcome assessment guideline aligning with the Pearson standard (formative and summative assessment).

Key Deliverables
1. A detailed report on findings from school visits, KIIs, and FGDs will be shared.
2. A comprehensive bridging program for Mathematics and English for grades 2 to grade 8 will be shared.
3. Teachers’ induction training facilitation in collaboration with CODEC.
4. A detailed learning outcome assessment guidelines will be shared.
5. An assignment completion report will be shared (including school monitoring findings).

ll. CANDIDATE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS, SELECTION CRITERIA

4. Required qualifications, language(s) and work experience:
Degree:
Bachelor’s degree completion.

Field of expertise, competencies:
Required/Mandatory: 3 years of working experience implementing the Pearson Edexcel Curriculum or developing curriculum.

Desirable: 5 years of working experience implementing the Pearson Edexcel Curriculum or developing curriculum.

5. Minimum years of work experience (NOTE: candidates with less years of experience cannot be short-listed or recommended): 3 years

Language: English Required: B2 level Desirable: IELTS test score 7

lll. EVALUATION, MONITORING, SUPERVISION

6. Monitoring and Progress Controls
The consultant will report to the Associate Education Officer. S/he will provide a weekly update about the progression and completion of the activities in the weekly unit meeting. Furthermore, after the completion of any assigned activities, a brief presentation will be provided to the education team before finalizing the documents/technical guidelines. A monthly progression report will be shared with the Education team.

Standard Job Description

Required Languages

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Desired Languages

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Additional Qualifications

Skills

Education

Certifications

Other information

This position doesn’t require a functional clearance

Home-Based

No