Consultancy Services for Facilitating the Implementation of the Quality Inclusive... Tender

Procurement Summary

Country : USA

Summary : Consultancy Services for Facilitating the Implementation of the Quality Inclusive Education Model

Deadline : 25 Aug 2019

Other Information

Notice Type : Tender

TOT Ref.No.: 35432884

Document Ref. No. :

Competition : ICB

Financier : United Nations Secretariat

Purchaser Ownership : -

Tender Value : Refer Document

Purchaser's Detail

Purchaser : UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN`S FUND
United States Fund for UNICEF 125 Maiden Lane, 11th Floor New York, NY 10038 Tel: +1-212-6865522 Fax: 7791679
USA
URL :https://www.unicef.org

Tender Details

Tenders are invited for Romania: Consultancy Services for Facilitating the Implementation of the Quality Inclusive Education Model at County Level (4 national consultancy positions available).

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, education.

How can you make a difference?


Purpose

Facilitate interventions carried out by UNICEF and its partners in the area of promoting quality inclusive education, with a focus on facilitating transition from lower to upper secondary education

Location

Bacau county, Romania

Duration

10 months

Start date

October 2019
Reporting to

Education Officer


Context

As outlined by the programmatic framework agreed upon for the 2018-2022 cycle, UNICEF and the Government of Romania cooperate in the field of education, promoting the right of all children to quality inclusive education. The technical assistance provided by UNICEF is therefore expected to lead to more inclusive and equitable outcomes in the field of education, contributing to the reduction and prevention of early school leaving.

Based on accurate research, UNICEF Romania Country Office will model new interventions at national level, aiming to inform public policies in education, so that all children have access to education and acquire the proper set of skills and competencies required for the 21st century. Building on previous interventions targeting children enrolled in preschool, primary and lower secondary education, UNICEF intends to model a new package of interventions targeting the transition from lower to upper secondary education.

In fact, recent evidences shows that the transition from one educational cycle to another is a critical moment to consider when building programs aiming to prevent school dropout. Changing the educational environment and adapting to new requirements may be extremely challenging, especially for children from rural areas, children with disabilities, Roma children or children with a disadvantaged socio-economic background. Educational factors, coupled with poverty or lack of proper infrastructure may in fact push many children out of school and increase their vulnerabilities. Moreover, adolescence in itself is an age of new opportunities, but it can also be associated with new potential risks that may affect school participation and performance.

Considering the above, UNICEF will test a new model for promoting quality inclusive education, aiming to collect accurate and real-time evidence to inform educational policies at national, county and local level. The initiative will be focused on empowering school units to devise local solutions to facilitate transition to upper secondary education from children at risk of drop out from the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th grade. It will be carried out in 35 schools and 10 high schools from Bacau County, already identified by UNICEF and its partners. The new model will be implemented within a large partnership, bringing together national, county and local stakeholders with high expertise in the education sector.

UNICEF CO will be in charge for ensuring the management and overall coordination of all proposed interventions to be carried out within the model. Considering the complexity of the model, UNICEF decided to expand its team in charge with its implementation. The decision is considering the importance of providing proper and timely guidance and assistance to all school units covered by the model to ensure that activities are carried out in line with agreed milestones and are respecting quality standards.

For the purposes already presented above, UNICEF is looking for 4 professionals acting as county facilitators for the interventions developed at local level in Bacau County.

The facilitator should fulfill multiple roles, including:

Assist school units to organize and mobilize school teams in charge with implementing the model-s activity;
Ensure proper communication between school teams, UNICEF and all partners involved in the model;
Provide timely support for identifying children at risk of drop out at the level of each school unit taking part in the model;
Provide technical guidance on how to ensure follow up of the capacity building program provided within the model;
Provide support for developing project proposals at local level, to be implemented through micro grants;
Organize regular consultations with teachers and parents to get an in depth understanding on the model-s strengths and weaknesses;
Facilitate networking opportunities and exchanges of experiences among local teams;
Communicating and promoting project-s goals at local and county level;
Documenting lessons learnt and identify best practices in the field of ECEC, conduct regular monitoring and reporting exercises, showcasing progress at local level.
Consultancy

UNICEF Romania is looking for 4 national professionals with expertise in education to fulfill the facilitator role at the level of Bacau county for the implementation of the model described above. It is expected that the consultant will dedicate 40 hours/month for ensuring the overall implementation of the project, in accordance with the model-s calendar of activities. For the duration of the current contract, the consultant is expected to provide the following deliverables:

List of team members to be involved in the project at the level of each school (by the end of the 1st month of implementation);
Consultation report for each of the school unit, outlining school expectations, potential risks and opportunities linked to model-s implementation at local level; (by the end of the 3rd month);
Profile for each of the school units, developed based on a grid of indicators provided by UNICEF (by the end of the 4th month of implementation); the school profile will be updated regularly;
3 technical reports, outlining progress in implementation of activities (by the end of the 3rd, 6th and 9th month);
Analysis on a specific topic associated to the intervention (to be decided based on the strengths and specific expertise of each of the consultants and considering model-s axis of interventions at school, family and individual level - by the end of the 8th month)
Final report, outlining progress at the level of each school, as well as specific recommendations for improvement (by the end of the 10th month).
To carry out all of the above, the consultant is expected to attend project meetings and carry out field visits every 2 months in all schools under its coordination. It should have regular consultations with teachers attending the capacity building program, as well as children at risk of drop out, parents of children and mentors involved in the program. In the same time, the consultant will attend the capacity building program organized within the model in order to be able to carefully ensure its follow up. Payments will be made every 3 months, based on previously approved reports and expected deliverables.

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

Professional proven experience in the field of education (at least 10 years) at the level of Bacau County;
Knowledge of current regulations governing the national education system at pre-university level;
Proven experience in the fulfilling the role of coordinator/facilitator, especially in the field of education;
Proven ability to work harmoniously with different external institutions and to incorporate different viewpoints;
Transversal skills: assertive communication, negotiation skills, competence to collect, analyze and report on technical information.
Fluent knowledge of Romanian is required.
For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF-s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

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.

General conditions

Working conditions. The consultant will work outside UNICEF premises, except for meetings convened by the direct supervisor.

Reporting. Within UNICEF, the contractor will report to the Education Officer. The contractor will also collaborate with relevant public authorities at county and local level. UNICEF will facilitate all the initial contacts with county and local authorities.

Payment calendar. This contract includes no other benefits. Travel costs to project sites and attending project meetings (situations when consultant is authorized to have access to UNICEF transport) will be covered by UNICEF outside this contract. Payments will be made upon approval of UNICEF supervisor and submission of invoice.

Note: consultant will sign health statement prior to taking the assignment and the designation form will be completed. The Consultant will be responsible for paying income taxes and any other due taxes as per applicable national legislation.


Application deadline: August 25th, 2019.

The application must include:

1. an updated CV focused on the skills and experience required by the current consultancy;

2. a financial offer as per attached template Financial template_consultant_Bacau.docx, specifying the requested gross daily fee in RON, taking into consideration that the consultant will be responsible for paying all his/her due income taxes as per Romanian fiscal legislation. Applications which do not include the financial offer will not be considered.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Documents

 Tender Notice