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Posting Title: International Consultancy for UNRWA Education 2030 baseline report-Deliverable Basis P4 Level
Department/Office: United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)
Duty Station: HQ Amman
Posting Period: 09 March 2023 - 22 March 2023
Job Opening Number: 23-UNRWA - Programme Education - Headquarters Amman-203975-Consultant
Staffing Exercise N/A
United Nations Core Values: Integrity, Professionalism, Respect for Diversity
Deliverables
1 Consolidated indicators framework and draft outlines of the structure of the Education 2030 Report 5 days by 25 April 2023
2 Final outlines of the Education 2030 Report 5 days by 15 May 2023
3 Draft Education 2030 Report 15 days by 20 June 2023
4 Final Education 2030 Report and Presentation of Results and Recommendations in Powerpoint 10 days by 30 July 2023
Total 35 days
Home based
3.5 Months
A. Background and rationale
UNRWA provides free education to over 540,000 Palestine refugee children in 702 schools across Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. The Agency also operates eight vocational training centers and two educational science faculties (Faculty of Educational Science and Arts (FESA) in Jordan and Educational Science Faculty (ESF) in West Bank) for nearly 10,000 young people.
The delivery of education services to Palestine refugees is aligned with the Education 2030 agenda, with the aim to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. UNRWA has completed its medium-term strategy (MTS) 2016-22 and has recently launched the strategic plan 2023-2028.
While the internal annual review report is institutionalized to ensure that the agency stays on track and focuses on the targets set in the MTS, the agency does not systematically share its education data with the internal community. For example, data sharing is not established with host countries, to integrate in the national data systems and the global reporting on SDG4. The agency is therefore not a member of a dedicated forum where its achievements and lessons can be shared with the international community.
With the intention to share its experiences in delivering Education to the Palestine refugees, UNRWA has aligned where possible the targets and indicators of its strategic plan 2023-2028 to the SDGs. The baseline report on Education 2030 is the opportunity to connect to the global monitoring of education, given its unique population and context.
It is expected that UNRWA will repeat this exercise on a 3-year basis. The structure of the baseline report could be aligned to the SDG4 targets and subsequent reports in 2026 and 2029 will be decided later.
It is in this context that UNRWA is looking for an international consultant to undertake the baseline report on Education 2030 in the UNRWA context.
B. The UNRWA education data sources.
The consultant will explore the following 3 main data sources during this assignment. These data are regularly collected to monitor the delivery of education in UNRWA:
Learning outcomes: UNRWA has conducted two assessments of learning outcomes and associated surveys in 2016 and 2021:
¿ In 2016, the assessment of learning outcomes (Monitoring of learning achievements MLA) targeted grades 4 and 8 in Arabic and Mathematics. In addition to measuring student’s learning achievement, the perceptions of key UNRWA education stakeholders at all levels were collected through the Perceptional Survey (PS)
¿ In December 2021, the assessment of learning outcomes (ALO) was administered to grades 5 and 9 in Arabic and Mathematics. It was coupled with the survey of associated factors (SAF), to collect contextual data that could determine the levels of learnings in UNRWA schools.
¿ The Classroom Observation Study (COS) collected data on classroom interaction and discourse practices in UNRWA classrooms to inform the design of UNRWA’s teacher policies and related work. The survey was conducted in 2016 and 2021.
The Agency-wide Education Management Information System (EMIS) and e-Student Registration System (e-SRS): The EMIS includes three modules: a student module, staff module and premises module (under development). The student module gathers key data for several indicators related to dropout rates, repetition rate, and so forth. The e-SRS (used less for indicator reporting) is an Agency-wide system for registering students who attend the UNRWA Vocational Training Centres (VTCs) and Educational Science Faculties. Data (censuses) have been conducted every year since 2015.
Data on EMIS and e-SRS are collected annually, and a historical data series has existed since 2015 for each database.
Ad-hoc surveys and other data collection tools: Some annual indicators are not yet incorporated into the EMIS and thus require ad hoc efforts. For example, data on textbook revision and unaccredited teacher indicators is collected through manual tools.
Tablet 1: The main data sets available.
Assessment of learning outcomes 2016 and 2021
Perceptional survey 2016
Survey of Associated factors (with learning) 2021
Classroom observation study 2016 and 2022
Annual administrative surveys (EMIS, e-SRS) 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019,
2020, 2021, 2022
UNRWA will not undertake any complementary data collection for the purpose of this report. As such, the report will be the result of secondary data analysis on the existing data sources and reports (including the medium-term strategy annual reports) in place since 2015. The current data will be explored to expand the coverage of SDG4 indicators that are not in the MTS 2016-2022.
C. Organizational setting and reporting
This position is situated within the UNRWA Department of Education at HQ-Amman. The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Senior education program specialist.
A. DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
In accordance with Agency policies and procedures, the consultant will be responsible for the following:
1) Review and analysis of UNRWA data sources, to establish a consolidated indicators framework considering the SDG4 and UNRWA medium term strategies (2016-22):
The consultant will conduct an initial desk review of documents describing the UNRWA Education Programme and its key objectives. This will include the review of the MTS 2016-22 and 2023-28 strategic documents and their indicator frameworks, and the review and analyses of data collected through EMIS, eSRS, learning outcomes and any other UNRWA databases that may be useful to inform the report.
Based on this initial review, the consultant will prepare a consolidated indicators framework that combines both the MTS and SDG4 indicators. Indicators from the Global Compact for Refugees will also be explored including their proxies in the existing indicators.
The framework will show the alignment between the strategic objectives of the MTSs, the consolidated indicators framework and the SDG4 targets, as well as the expanded list of indicators specific to SDG4 that will be generated based on the existing data collected through UNRWA education surveys (EMIS, e-SRS). Following review and feedback from UNRWA, the consultant will revise and finalize the mapping as needed.
2) Propose a detailed structure of the Education 2030 baseline report.
The baseline report could be structured around each of the ten targets of the SDG4 (7+3) to ease referencing of achievements of UNRWA education systems in alignment with the Agenda 2030 in education. Where possible, the consultant will highlight any contrast between the five fields of operation so that agency-wide achievements do not overshadow the discrepancies inside the system. Of particular interest, the consultant will provide a comparative analysis between the UNRWA achievements, and the global achievements as reported by, but not limited to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and the Global education monitoring report. This approach will enable UNRWA to display its successes and challenges to guide future collaboration and support with the international community.
The consultant will consult key stakeholders who will be represented through a committee, to finalize the structure of the baseline report. The Senior education programme specialist who supervises this activity will mobilize the committee to discuss any issue of concern with the consultant during his assignment.
3) The Education 2030 report
The maximum expected length of the report is 60 pages excluding appendixes. The consultant should also develop a presentation of the key findings of the analysis and present this on a videoconference call to key UNRWA Education stakeholders and leadership. Following feedback from the stakeholders and Education staff, the consultant will further revise and finalise the report.
B. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
This consultancy is open to all candidates who meet the following minimum requirements:
• Advanced degree (Masters or equivalent) in economics, sociology, education, or related field
• At least 10 years of professional experience working in education M&E, data analysis and reporting at national and international levels.
• Expertise in education sector policy, planning and management, M&E and education management information systems.
• Outstanding communication skills, with excellent command of spoken and written English.
• At least two continuous years of relevant international experience outside the country of which the candidate is a national or holds citizenship, a passport or national identity card.
• Excellent knowledge of MS-Office.
DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS
• Experience in conducting educational research and analysis on forcibly displaced populations (refugees, IDPs etc), in the context of the UN development agenda (MDGs and SDGs) both at the national or regional levels.
• Experience in the Middle East region and / or similar contexts.
• Understanding of the UNRWA / regional context.
C. COMPETENCIES
UN Core Values of Professionalism, Integrity and Respect for Diversity and Core Competencies of Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results apply by default.
• Planning and Organizing
• Positive attitude and strong analytical, interpersonal and communication skills.
• Adapting and Responding to Change
• Ability to independently plan and prioritize own work, work well under tight deadlines.
• Proven critical thinking, creativity, and analytical and reporting skills.
• Proven ability to operate in a challenging and dynamic environment.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with colleagues and others in a team environment.
• Outstanding communication skills, with excellent command of spoken and written English.
D. CONDITIONS OF SERVICE
The following conditions are to be observed:
• The expected start date of the consultancy is 15 April 2023 until 30 July 2023 (3.5 months).
• The consultancy will be deliverable based, and payments will be released on instalments upon satisfactory receipt of agreed deliverables according to the work plan. Renumeration is based on P-4 level.
• The consultant will work remotely with her/his own tools and will conduct the consultations online. UNRWA will facilitate access to data and reports necessary for this assignment and will organize meetings with the stakeholders when needed.
Duration of the contract:
The proposed starting date is 15 April 2023 and ending on 30 July 2023.
No Fee
THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.
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