Consultancy - Advancing Foundational Literacy and Numeracy in SADC Member States in Africa, ESARO

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TERMS OF REFERENCE

Background and Justification

Without urgent remedial action focused on foundational, social and emotional skills, this generation of students is robbed of the essential grounding for ongoing learning for life and work and of the chance to reach their full potential. In fact, it is estimated that due to lack of foundational learning skills, this generation risks losing US$21 trillion in potential lifetime earnings, or the equivalent of 17 per cent of todayâs global GDP. (Are our Children Really Learning?, UNICEF, The WB, 2022). Additionally, the Africa Human Capital Heads of State Summit (2023, Dar Es Salaam) came in response to engagements with government focal points on the need to draw attention to the role of human capital in economic growth and elevate the discussion on the importance of investing on foundational learning and skills. For example, one extra year of education correlates with 10% higher household income, and one extra year on average for a country translates overall to higher GDP per capita.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is composed of a membership of 16 countries from the south region of the Africa continent. It was founded on August 17, 1992, aiming at promoting socio-economic, political and security cooperation and integration among member states. As the continent continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic which exacerbated the learning crisis and education inequity, and as it continues to grapple with new emergencies and protracted crises, there is need for SADC Member States to take strong actions in terms of implementation of policies and flagship programs that will address structural factors driving poor quality of education and end learning poverty for both children and young people in and out of school in SADC Member States in Africa.

Scope of Work

The overall purpose of this engagement is to trigger a sense of urgency amongst political leaders, policy makers, development partners, influencers, and communities to lead and ensure effective implementation of transformative actions to end learning poverty amongst school going children in SADC member states Africa. This partnership is in the spirit of Learning coalition (BMGF, FCDO, The World Bank, UNESCO, UNICEF, USAID) which was formed in 2022 with a shared commitment to improving foundational learning for all and a desire to work together towards reducing the alarmingly high rate of learning poverty globally. Further, UNICEF, SADC, PAL Network and BMGF have come together to support SADC member states to fast-track impactful actions to reverse learning poverty in the region. This critical partnership will: The critical partnership will:

elevate public awareness on foundational literacy â importance, status and actions needed for change expand the opportunities for sharing knowledge products, technical know-how and south -south cooperation convene partners to accelerate system wide scale up of functional FLN approaches and establish synergies in learning assessments provide monitoring and oversight support in implementation SADC commitments on foundational learning and SDG4

Major tasks

The consultant is expected to coordinate and provide oversight and technical leadership in strengthening advocacy effort to improve learning outcomes at foundational stages and provide oversights and technical assistance in documentation, dissemination and systemic integration of impactful FLN practices into member countries education system, organize webinar and podcast to sensitize countries and partners for increasing investment on FLN. 

Outputs/Deliverables and payment schedule:

The consultant will be required to produce the outputs as specified below.

Outputs

Main Activity

Deliverables

Deadline

# of working days (tentative)

1. Workable FLN approaches scaled up in all six SADC Member States

Provide technical leadership, oversight, and monitoring support to countries in systemwide demonstration of structured pedagogy, teaching at the right level and formative assessments

Mapping report of impactful FLN practices of 15 member countries available

15th January 2024

25

Documentation on the impactful FLN practices (TaRL, Structural pedagogy, Assessment for learning; play way pedagogies) available

20th March 2024

23

Education sector plan of SADC member countries reviewed, and review report shared with member states Dissemination workshop for the impactful FLN practices organized â Workshop report available

05th May 2024

28

Advocate with SADC Member States to translate commitment to action to promote FLN

Eight SADC member countries developed national strategy and roadmap for FLN through cocreation workshop Additional four SADC member countries developed national strategy and roadmap for FLN through cocreation workshop

 10th July 2024

40

Additional four SADC member countries developed national strategy and roadmap for FLN through cocreation workshop SADC Education ministerial convening organized. Convening meeting report available

7th Sept 2024

27

Support Member States in exchange of knowledge and good practices on impactful foundational learning approaches

At least 10 countries commit tangible country specific action to elevate FLN. FLN Endorsement available

30th Oct 2024

25

2. Systemic capacity developed for data driven decision making to improve learning

Final report consolidated and shared

Strengthen systemic capacity on data driven decision making for 15 SADC member states Oversight, monitoring and reporting the progress of partnership. Two virtual capacity development sessions organized for 15 SADC member states on data driven decision making to improve FLN learning outcomes Final consolidated report submitted

30th Nov 2024

35

Payment Schedule

Professional Fee: Payment will be made based on the evidence of progress of deliverables or completed deliverables, which should be reflected in a short report accompanied by an invoice and a work plan for the next month. The estimated number of working days for each deliverable is indicative, actual time worked for each deliverable may vary.

Travel fee: Travel costs funded by UNICEF are considered as part of the overall contract cost. This includes travel from SADC HQ to SADC member states (at least 5 travels). SADC may support the consultant if additional travel required)

Please note that the final remuneration will be negotiated by HR.

Nationality: Consultant must be a national of SADC member state.

Required qualification and experiences:

Advanced university degree or equivalent experience in Education, Psychology, Sociology or related field of social science. *A first-level university degree in a relevant field combined with seven years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree. At least 8 years of proven experience in the field of education, teacher training, pedagogical practices and designing scale up and implementation of foundational literacy and numeracy programmes. Solid experience in the design and implementation of education progarmme at scale. Excellent writing skills, planning and coordination skills, with proven ability to work independently.  Previous work with UNICEF, and Foundations and implementing partners, AU, SADC, IGADis an added advantage. Competencies: The consultant must have skill and competencies to adapt ESP and tailor-made the FLN approaches for countries in African continents, high quality documentation and presentation skills and coordination and negotiation skills with government and partners. Please indicate the languages needed: Fluency in English (verbal and written). Knowledge of French and Portuguese is an added advantage

Administrative issues

The Consultant will be office-based at SADC HQ (Botswana) and coordinate with SADC HQ and SADC member states in a day-to-day basis with missions to supporting countries (at least five during the tenure). SADC will provide office space for day-to-day official function and travel will be in economy class. As per UNICEF DFAM policy, payment is made against approved deliverables. No advance payment is allowed unless in exceptional circumstances against bank guarantee, subject to a maximum of 30 per cent of the total contract value in cases where advance purchases, for example for supplies or travel, may be necessary. The candidate selected will be governed by and subject to UNICEFâs General Terms and Conditions for individual contracts. 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, programme 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. 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.

Conditions

The consultant will be based in Botswana SADC secretariate where the office space will be provided Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered âstaff membersâ under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEFâs 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.

How to apply

Qualified candidates are requested to submit a cover letter, CV or P11 form and Writing sample, preferably related to digital data analysis to the online recruitment portal (Talent Management System) or email provided.

Interested candidates to indicate their ability, availability, and rate (daily/monthly) expressed in US$ for international contract to undertake the terms of reference. The fees should be inclusive of other costs incurred such as travel or subsistence allowances for international consultants who will be based in Nairobi.

Applications submitted without a fee/ rate will not be considered.

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 worldâs most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include 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 reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards 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 âstaff membersâ under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEFâs 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, programme 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.