Education Specialist – Early Childhood Education, Lesotho

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,

Organizational Context and Purpose for the job

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does in programs, in advocacy, and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education, and protection of society’s most disadvantaged citizens addressing inequity not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

Job organizational context

UNICEF is committed to elevating the priority and status of pre-primary education by ensuring that pre-primary education is systematically integrated in Education Sector Planning processes.

Lesotho was selected as one of the 4 pilot countries of the BELDS (Better Early Learning and Development at Scale) initiative thanks to a partnership at the global level between UNICEF and Global Partnership for Education (GPE). BELDS Initiative aims to support the development and piloting of a comprehensive approach/toolkit to in-country capacity development for integrating pre-primary education meaningfully into national education sector planning and policy implementation cycles.

Since the starting of the BELDS Initiative in June 2019, preschool sub-sector has taken another dimension in Lesotho. During the diagnosis workshop in Maseru, the key strengths and weaknesses of different aspects of Lesotho pre-primary education sub-sector has been discussed. Specific strategies have been defined in terms of planning and effective resource management, curriculum revision, teachers and pre-primary personnel reinforcement, family and community engagement, quality assurance and monitoring.

In July 2019, Lesotho Minister of Education and Training committed to scale up reception classes over the next five years to cover all 1,486 primary schools. Currently, only 10% of primary schools have reception classes. The scale-up aims to see 60% of Lesotho 5-year old children in reception classes by 2025. Combined with the private ECCD centers, all 5-year old children, would participate in one year of pre-primary education by 2028.

The Ministry of Education and Training relies on UNICEF support for the development and implementation of the reception class scale-up strategy and to build national capacities on a longer-term basis to put in place a quality system for Early Childhood Education in Lesotho.

The purpose of the job

Under the guidance and general supervision of the Chief Education and Adolescent Development (BEAD), the Early Childhood Education Specialist supports the development and preparation of the Early Childhood Education programme and is responsible for managing, implementing, monitoring, evaluating and reporting the progress of the early childhood education part of the programmes within the country programme. The Specialist provides technical guidance and management support throughout the programming processes to facilitate the administration and achievement of results on education programmes to improve learning outcomes and equitable and inclusive early learning education, especially for children who are marginalized, disadvantaged and excluded in society.

Under this Temporary Appointment, the Specialist contributes to the achievement of results according to plans, allocation, results based-management approaches and methodology (RBM), as well as UNICEFs Strategic Plans, standards of performance, and accountability framework,

Summary of key functions/accountabilities

Support to programme development and planning
Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results
Technical and operational support to programme implementation
Networking and partnership building
Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

Results-based key functions and accountabilities:

1.Support to programme development and planning

Support the preparation, design, and updating of situation analysis for the Early Childhood Education part of the programme to ensure that current and comprehensive data on pre-primary education issues is available to guide UNICEF strategic policy, advocacy, intervention and development efforts under BELDS and within its broader portfolio on early learning.

Help supervisor set priorities, strategies, design and implementation plans. Keep abreast of development trends to enhance programme management, efficiency, and delivery.

Participate in strategic programme discussion on the early childhood education programme. Formulate, design and prepare programme proposals for the sub-sector, ensuring alignment with UNICEF Strategic Plans and Country Programme and coherence/integration with the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), regional strategies and national priorities, plans, and competencies.

Establish specific goals, objectives, strategies and implementation plans for the sub-sector using results-based planning terminology and methodology (RBM). Prepare the required documentations for programme review and approval.

Work closely and collaboratively with internal colleagues and partners to discuss strategies and methodologies to ensure the achievement of concrete and sustainable results.

Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes and to ensure integration, coherence and harmonization of programmes with other UNICEF sectors and achievement of results as planned and allocated

2.Programme management, monitoring, and delivery of results

Plan and collaborate with internal colleagues and external partners to establish monitoring benchmarks and performance indicators to assess/strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of concrete and sustainable results for early childhood education.

Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises with the government and other counterparts to assess progress and to determine required action/interventions to achieve results.

Identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained for development planning and timely intervention to achieve goals.

Actively monitor programme through field visits and surveys, and exchange information with stakeholders to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and potential problems, and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.

Monitor and verify the optimum and appropriate use of programme resources (financial, administrative and other assets) confirming compliance with organizational rules, regulations/procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity, ensuring timely reporting and liquidation of resources.

Prepare regular and mandated programme reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of programme progress.

3.Technical and operational support to programme implementation

Provide technical guidance and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and country office partners and donors on interpretation, application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes and best practices and approaches on early childhood education and related issues to support BELDS programme management, implementation and delivery of results.

Arrange/coordinate availability of technical experts with Regional Office/HQ/consultants to ensure timely and appropriate support throughout the programming process.

Participate in education programme meetings including programme development and contingency planning to provide technical and operational information, advice and support.

Draft policy papers, briefs and other strategic programme materials for management use

Provide technical support to the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) in Early childhood education development and particularly in the coordination of the reception class scale up strategy implementation; support technical coordination and timely articulation of the infrastructure components, the curriculum and teacher component as well as the quality assurance and monitoring component.

Support the assessment of MoET capacities to implement and monitor quality ECE at scale, at national, district and school level ; support the development and the implementation of a large capacity building plan for the ECE staff at all levels.

4.Networking and partnership building

Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with relevant government counterparts, national stakeholders, global partners, donors, and academia through active networking, advocacy and effective communication to build capacity, exchange knowledge/expertise and to reinforce cooperation to achieve sustainable and broad results on education programmes.

Support the ECE working group functioning and quality information sharing; Ensure quality contribution of the working group to the revision of the Education Sector Plan (ESP) and monitoring of the progress of the ESP implementation.

Prepare communication and information materials for CO programme advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnerships and support fund raising for education programmes especially for pre-primary.

Participate and/or represent UNICEF in appropriate inter-agency (UNCT) discussions on education and related issues to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on UNDAF planning and preparation of programmes/projects ensuring organizational position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated in the UNDAF process in development planning and agenda setting.

5.Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

Apply and introduce innovative approaches and good practices to build the capacity of partners and stakeholders and to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results.

Keep abreast, research, benchmark, and implement best practices relating to pre-primary management. Assess, institutionalize and share best practices and knowledge learned.

Contribute to the development and implementation of policies and procedures to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy of sustainable programmes and projects.

Organize and implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders to promote sustainable results on education and related programmes/projects.

Liaise with HQ colleagues to identify, synthesize and share key processes, resources and lessons learned on BELDS implementation in Lesotho and contribute to development and review of the BELDS global toolkit units.

World closely with the BELDS global team to maintain a knowledge bank of informational assets related to the BELDS programme in Lesotho (including country reports, case studies, best practices, blogs, lessons learned, tools, resources) that will inform the development of the BELDS global toolkit.

Competencies and level of proficiency required

Core Values

Commitment

Diversity and inclusion

Integrity

Core competencies

Communication (II)

Working with people (II)

Drive for results (II)

Functional Competencies

Leading and supervising (I)

Formulating strategies and concepts (II)

Analyzing (III)

Relating and networking (II)

Deciding and Initiating action (II)

Applying technical expertise (III)

Technical Competencies

Technical competencies must be demonstrated in the following areas:

Some understanding of the overall global development context, including issues such as: poverty, conflict and the impact of these factors on education and vice-versa; and inter-sectoral approaches to address such issues in collaboration with other sectors (including Social Policy, Child Protection, Nutrition, WASH, Health, and Communications within UNICEF).

Understanding and knowledge of the pre-primary education sub-sector, for example, experience with teaching at this level, developing curriculum materials, leading teacher training or other relevant activities.

Some knowledge of global developments in education and international engagement strategies, including the application of the equity lens and human rights perspectives to programming.

Some education sector planning knowledge/ability, including the range of modalities for delivering education, linkages between different sub-sectors (e.g. ECD, Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Inclusive Education), cost-effectiveness and efficiency issues, key institutional structures, components and processes, as well as governance issues.

Some experience with supporting policy dialogue: translation of analytical findings and evidence into development programmes and policy discussions around equity and learning with partners, including government, development partners, CSOs and academia in relevant areas.

Experience with knowledge management and development of knowledge products and assets, including case studies, best practices/lessons learned, toolkits etc.

Some ability to support engagement with partners, especially in the context of global goods development.

Recruitment Qualifications

Education:

Advanced university degree in Early Education or International Education, Early Childhood Development, Human Development, Psychology, or other related fields

Experience:

A minimum of five years of professional experience in programme planning, management, and/or research in education is required.

Relevant experience in pre-primary education and pre-primary sub-sector development is a particular advantage.

Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered an asset.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language or local language of the duty station is considered as an asset.

View our competency framework at

http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

Remarks:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.