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Recrutement de 01 International Consultancy for the distance education capacity assessment

Localité : Niger / Niamey
Domaine : Education
Niveau : Non precise
Entreprise recruteur : UNICEF

Recrutement de 01 International Consultancy for the distance education capacity assessment

Contract type: Consultant
Duty Station: Niamey
Level: Consultancy
Location: Niger
Categories: Education
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, hope

Purpose of Activity/Assignment:

Assist UNICEF Niger Office in conducting a multilevel analysis and mapping of distance education capacity, including connection coverage, curriculum; and staff capacity in supporting the multi-modal distance learning for conflict-affected children and adolescents in Niger. This assignment will also include identifying cost-effective, contextually appropriate distance education methods aligned with the national curriculum

Background:

Niger has been exposed to multifaceted risks and vulnerabilities, both structural and situational. Climatic disruptions, recurrent food and nutrition crises, combined with insecurity and weak state intervention in some municipalities, have led to a gradual deterioration of livelihoods. With education and protection systems significantly affected, children have limited access to basic social services, that are safe and resilient, further increasing their vulnerability. Armed conflicts in Niger have led to a humanitarian crisis that has exacerbated structural problems in the education system. Niger continues to face prevalent insecurity in the far west, far southeast, and south-central regions of the country. These events are occurring in a situation where Niger's education system is already facing numerous challenges due to quantitative (infrastructure and distribution) and qualitative (poor learning outcomes) weaknesses. The closure of schools or reduced access to educational opportunities has particularly negative effects for the most vulnerable groups, especially children living in rural areas and girls (whose domestic burden may be increased). These pupils are more likely to leave the education system permanently as the school year ends, especially as the implementation of the usual measures to support schooling (school feeding programs, protection programs, even school scholarships) is also strongly disrupted. These children are also those with limited access to learning opportunities outside of school within their families and communities.

Justification

Considering an average annual population growth rate of 3.9% and a fertility rate of 7.6 children per woman, Niger has the highest proportion of young people in the world, with over half of its population (52%) under the age of 15. In particular, the school-aged population (5-24 years old), which represents 48% of the population, is expected to continue to increase according to the projections made by the National Institute of Statistics (NIS). The largest proportion of the school-age population, children and adolescents aged 7 to 16 years, faces many challenges to access education. –As a result, 53% are out of school, and learning results remain poor despite the improvements highlighted by PASEC (69.9% and 77.5% of pupils are below the threshold of competence in reading and mathematics, respectively, at the end of primary school). The deterioration of the security situation is one of the major explanatory factors for these outcomes

As part of its support to the government vision on the continuity of learning of children and adolescents in complex situations, UNICEF Niger Country Office aims that children and adolescent whose schooling has been interrupted by conflict (school closed, community displaced, etc.) can continue to acquire foundational reading, math, and social and emotional skills through the provision and delivery of remote learning modalities. By developing the capacity for distance/online/digital learning UNICEF will ensure that the children in emergency settings will have equal access to education as all those who are studying in unaffected areas of the country.

Objectives of the assignment

The main objective of the consultancy is to conduct multilevel analysis and mapping of distance learning capacity and identify cost-effective, contextually appropriate distance education methods aligned with the national curriculum.



The consultant will specifically perform the following tasks:

Build on the study already done by UNICEF and the Government partners on distance learning in Niger
Consult secondary literature on distance learning in general and in Niger, in particular
Consult the key actors supporting distance learning and gather their opinions on distance learning
Assess the learning device, internet connection coverage and power availability in schools in the target region
Assess the staff capacity and readiness to engage in distance learning and embrace new education technologies (EdTech)
Assess the capacity of teachers, school management committee and parents to manage, implement and monitor the distance learning program
Identifying cost-effective and contextually appropriate distance education methods across the target regions (rural, urban) and education levels.
Consult and interview the beneficiaries (i.e. government agencies, schools/parents, learners, communities)
Develop a final report of the study with recommendations
Present the findings of the study in a restitution workshop with the government stakeholders.
Methodological approach

Throughout the period of the assignment the following methodological approach is suggested.

Literature review: Provide a critical overview of the current sources on distance learning in Niger, and if needed, anecdotally in Sahel and/or neighboring countries
Research and Data Collection: Collect information on the most recent, leading practices in distance/online/digital learning and the effective use of EdTech, especially in the context of emergency education, as advised by UNICEF; mapping of education capacity with the focus on internet connectivity, programs and staff capacity
Interview Key Stakeholders: Interview and engage with the major stakeholders to solicit their respective opinions and establish the initial view of the development needs, which have to be met for the project to succeed
Analyze and Review: All the inputs will be presented in a systemic manner, analyzed and reviewed, present the Niger results in the context of other similar countries and provide credible information dataset.
Recommendation and the Final report: All the results will be distilled to provide applicable recommendations which may be implemented in the context of Niger and could serve as a replicable model for other similar situations and countries. The final report will be presented to the stakeholders to have their input prior to official dissemination.
Evaluation

Application will be evaluated on the cumulative analysis

- Total points: 100

- Technical Qualification (70 points)

Passing score is 50 points

Financial Proposal (30 points)



The lowest financial offer will receive the maximum financial score (30 points). The other applicants that have passed the required technical threshold will receive scores inversely proportional to the lowest offer

Key stakeholders

The key stakeholders for this assignment are Government Ministries, schools, communities and learners in Niger. Application requirements: Motivation letter, CV and P11 form, Technical offer, Financial offer, Copy of diploma, Contact names, email and telephone of their most recent supervisors for the references check.

Work Assignment Overview

Deliverables/Outputs:

Tasks/Milestone:

Timeline

Inception Report

Literature review on distance/digital learning in Niger
Detailed inception plan for the distance learning capacity assessment
Research and data collection
8 weeks

Capacity assessment report

Interview with key stakeholders (governments, industry players, schools/parents, local community members, students, etc.)
Assess multilevel analysis on the educational capacity for distance learning and conduct mapping of learning devices, internet connection coverage and power availability in schools in the target region
Key findings of the analysis and assessment with detailed recommendations
8 weeks

Final report

Draft report developed and shared with the key stakeholders for inputs
Inputs and comments are addressed
Final report includes feedback from the consultation sessions and comments from the UNICEF team
Present the key findings of the study at the workshop for restitution
8 weeks

Estimated Consultancy fee



24 weeks

(90 days)

Travel International

2 missions in Niamey

June, November

Travel Local (if applicable)

Field mission in other regions

June

DSA

Niamey rate



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

At least a Master’s degree in education, economics, social policy or other social sciences.
At least 10 years of proven experience in education, education technology, and financial analysis
Experience in work related to human and institutional capacity assessment
Capacity to research and synthesize information from a diverse range of stakeholders and resources
Experience in telecommunications or digital services is considered as an asset
Experience with Niger is considered as an asset
Working experience with UN and or other international organizations will be an added advantage
Fluency and excellent writing skills in English required
Ability to work under tight deadlines
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 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 “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, 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.

Advertised: 01 Jun 2023 W. Central Africa Standard Time
Deadline: 08 Jun 2023 W. Central Africa Standard Time



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