Education (Learning Assessment)

Deadline : 3 April 2024

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

For over 75 years, UNICEF has been working tirelessly for child rights and for the well-being of every child. The UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA) is dedicated to advancing the rights of all children in South Asia, especially the most marginalized and disadvantaged. It supports eight countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Through its advisory and leadership roles, UNICEF ROSA is placed in a strategic position to influence policies, strategies and programming at both national and sub-national levels across South Asia. UNICEF’s vision for education is that ‘every child learns’, articulated in the 2019-2030 Education Strategy across three inter-related goals: (i) equitable access to learning opportunities;

(ii) improved learning and skills for all;

(iii) improved learning and protection for children in emergencies and transitions. UNICEF ROSA contributes to ensuring that girls and boys, especially the most disadvantaged, acquire the skills they need in an inclusive, equitable, safe, relevant and quality learning environment. The Education team supports South Asia Country Offices on the 5 key regional priorities:

1) Early childhood and development;

2) Foundational skills and learning recovery;

3) Out-of-school children and adolescents;

4) Digital learning and innovation);

5) Emergency preparedness and response. Measuring learning and using the measurement both in the classroom (including for formative assessment for targeted instruction) and at system level, is critical for improving learning outcomes and addressing learning poverty. Strengthening learning assessment capacity helps advance learning results for all children and adolescents, in particular the most vulnerable. This UNV position is to support COs capacity strengthening in learning assessment and its use. The position will contribute to inform the programming of governments, the international community in general, and UNICEF country offices in particular, on how to strengthen education systems and improve the delivery of quality learning for the realization of child rights in all settings.

Task description

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of the Regional Education Advisor, the UNV [Education – Learning Assessment] will undertake the following tasks, for the South Asia region:

• Provide support to Country Offices and Ministries of Education for improving learning assessment systems and tools and facilitating their use (at national, sub-national and school levels) for education policy decision making, education system strengthening, gender equality and community empowerment, including in emergency settings.

• Support the analysis of the implementation and achievements of the 2022-2025 UNICEF Strategic Plan (Goal “Every child learns and acquires skills for the future”) and of the 2019-2030 global UNICEF Education Strategy, and related theories of change.

• Develop methodological notes and guidance

• Organize and update UNICEF’s sharepoint

• 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.

• As an active UNICEF team member, efficient, timely, responsive, client-friendly and high-quality support rendered to UNICEF and its beneficiaries in the accomplishment of her/his functions, including:

o Collaboration with ROSA and COs education staff in analyzing learning assessment gaps and producing related policy and capacity building recommendations

o Support the development of methodological briefs and capacity strengthening of COs on learning assessment systems

o Analyze learning outcomes progress in relation to SDGs and UNICEF Strategic Plan

o Update Sharepoint and UNICEF ROSA education webpage

• Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated and documented in all activities throughout the assignment

• A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for peace and development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities developed

Required experience

1 years of experience in education, including in the field of learning assessment, psychometrics, economics, statistics or related fields

• Knowledge of education indicators, in particular on learning outcomes

• Knowledge of VBA for Excel, an asset

• Experience in psychometrics and statistical modeling, an asset

• Good writing skills and experience in drafting knowledge products

• Experience of working with UNICEF, sister UN agencies and other partners is an asset

• Working knowledge of Nepali, Hindi and other South Asia languages is an advantage;

Languages

English, Level: Fluent, Required

Required education level

Bachelor degree or equivalent in psychometrics, economics, statistics or related fields