Education Officer

Education Officer (UNV)

Assignment country: Nepal

Expected start date: 01/08/2024

Sustainable Development Goal: 4. Quality education

Volunteer category: National UN Volunteer Specialist

Host entity: UNICEF

Type: Onsite

Duration: 12 months
(with possibility of extension)

Number of assignments: 1

Duty stations: Janakpur

Details

Mission and objectives

UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.

In all of its work, UNICEF takes a life-cycle based approach, recognizing the particular importance of early childhood development and adolescence. UNICEF programmes focus on the most disadvantaged children, including those living in fragile contexts, those with disabilities, those who are affected by rapid urbanization and those affected by environmental degradation.

UNICEF was created with a distinct purpose in mind: to work with others to overcome the obstacles that poverty, violence, disease and discrimination place in a child’s path. We advocate for measures to give children the best start in life, because proper care at the youngest age forms the strongest foundation for a person’s future.

We promote girls’ education – ensuring that they complete primary education as a minimum – because it benefits all children, both girls and boys. Girls who are educated grow up to become better thinkers, better citizens, and better parents to their own children. We act so that all children are immunized against common childhood diseases, and are well nourished: no child should suffer or die from a preventable illness. We work to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among young people because it is right to keep them from harm and enable them to protect others. We help children and families affected by HIV/AIDS to live their lives with dignity.

We are UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund.

Context

The UNICEF Education programme is aimed at enabling children to complete a full course of good quality education in an equitable, inclusive, and safe environment, with a particular focus on children from the most disadvantaged communities. UNICEF will contribute to Nepal’s School Education Sector Plan within the framework of the education Sector Wide Approach and UNSDCF Outcome.
In collaboration with federal, provincial and local governments the programmes have been intensifying efforts to address chronically low levels of learning in Nepal as well as recover the pandemic learning loss. The programmes have also been helping children to equip with the foundational skills needed to complete their education, by prioritizing early grades literacy and numeracy, particularly among girls, children with disabilities, from disadvantaged minorities and migrant families, and those with a different mother tongue. UNICEF advocates for greater policy commitment and enhanced resource allocation for equitable and inclusive education.
To support federalization, UNICEF supports three tiers of government to develop comprehensive policies, common framework for capacity development and costed education plans. The programme strengthens education capacities and systems to support children’s school readiness, improve children’s learning and create safe and child-friendly schools. UNICEF will develop alternative pathways and digital offerings to help out-of-school children to re-enter school or acquire essential life skills. The programme addresses harmful social and gender norms in education to enable more girls, children with disabilities, and those from disadvantaged communities to have an equitable education chance.

The School Education Sector Plan (SESP) for Nepal was developed to facilitate the country’s long-term goal and ambitions for education within the highly decentralized institutional setup in the sector that emerged over the past years in line with Nepal’s 2015 Constitution. As per the provisions in Nepal’s Constitution, a federal system has been established comprising of federal, provincial, and local tiers of government. While establishing a legal basis to facilitate the enactment of exclusive and shared powers under the mandates of the federal government, seven provincial and 753 Local Governments (LGs), the 2018 Compulsory and Free Education Act and 2020 Compulsory and Free Education related Rules have been introduced, with the 2019 National Education Policy providing guidelines for key functions and provision of services across the government tiers.

Responding to the needs of these children, UNICEF continues to support implementation of education programmes including common education package in Madhesh, Lumbini, Karnali and Sudur Pashchim Province

Task description

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of the Education Officers in UNICEF Field Offices and technical supervision from Education Specialists in the Education Section-Kathmandu, the Education Officer (UNV) will:

• Provide technical and operational support to implementing partner(s) and local governments to formulate evidence based, GESI-responsive, inclusive, disaster and climate-resilient school education sector plans and budgets.
•  Support local governments to coordinate with education and other sectoral stakeholders, by strengthening existing coordination structures and mechanisms to design and implementation of education programmes aligned with the local government education sector plan and budget prioritized and needs.
•  Support local governments and schools in strengthening IEMIS and its use in planning, implementation, and monitoring.
•  Provide support to implementing partners and local governments for implementation and monitoring of the Common Education Package.
• Provide capacity building support to implementing partners, schools, and local governments on SESP and other interventions in Common Education Package.
• Support in collection and recording of human-interest stories, case studies and lessons learned for office use.
•  Assist in monitoring visits, missions, end use monitoring and any other assessments or studies.
• Contribute to the provincial and local education clusters strengthening and for any response during emergency situations.
•  Contribute by providing inputs and contents for the situation analysis of the sector for necessary use by the field office and the Education Section.
•  Work closely and collaboratively with sectoral colleagues and partners to collect, analyze and share information on implementation issues.
• Participate and represent UNICEF in appropriate inter-agency discussions on education and related issues.
•  Introduce and apply innovative approaches and good practices to build the capacity of partners and stakeholders and to support in implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.
•  Any other related tasks as may be required or assigned by the supervisor.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities.

•  Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day).
•  Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country.
•  Provide annual and end of assignment self-reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities.
• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.
• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly arrived UN Volunteers.
• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.
• Strengthened capacity of local government to develop education sector plans and budgets.
• Strengthened local governments capacity to establish child-friendly systems for modelling CFS.
• Increased capacity of schools and communities for evidence-based educational planning and provide quality services that promote equitable access and learning in pre-school and school.
•  Recovery of learning losses and acceleration of learning in the wake of COVID19 and humanitarian situations.

Eligibility criteria

Age: 18 – 80

Nationality: Candidate must be a national or legal resident of the country of assignment.

Requirements

Required experience

3 years of experience in communication and presentation skills; coordination, networking and advocacy skills; technical expertise in the area of education sector planning and programming; monitoring, evaluation and reporting skills; excellent interpersonal skills; ability to work and adapt professionally and effectively in a challenging working environment; ability to work effectively in a multicultural team of international and national professionals; proficiency in MS Office applications (Excel, Word, etc.), have affinity with or interest in UNICEF core values and volunteerism as a mechanism for durable development, and the UN System.

Working knowledge of local languages is an advantage.

Area(s) of expertise

Education

Driving license
–

Languages

Nepalese, Level: Fluent, Required
English, Level: Fluent, Required

Required education level

Bachelor degree or equivalent in Education or Social Science. Early Childhood Education and Development, Formal Education and System Strengthening, Adolescents and Life Skills, Safe Schools including education sector planning is an asset.

Competencies and values

Competencies: (1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others.

Values: Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability

Other information

Living conditions and remarks

The security situation in all locations is normal and have both road and air access. Moreover, all basic services/facilities are also available in the assigned duty stations. As this is a national UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging his/her own housing and other living essentials.

Inclusivity statement

United Nations Volunteers is an equal opportunity programme that welcomes applications from qualified professionals. We are committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, care protected characteristics. As part of their adherence to the values of UNV, all UN Volunteers commit themselves to combat any form of discrimination, and to promoting respect for human rights and individual dignity, without distinction of a person’s race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.

Reasonable accommodation

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for UN Volunteers 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 recruitment process and afterwards in your assignment.

Note on Covid-19 vaccination requirements

In addition to duty station-specific vaccine requirements, appointments 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 appointment. It does not apply to UN Volunteers 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 contracts.

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