Job Title: Project Manager, Assessments
Organization: Central Square Foundation
Team: School Governance
Location: Guwahati, Assam
About Central Square Foundation:
Founded in 2012, Central Square Foundation (CSF) is a non-profit philanthropic foundation working to ensure quality school education for all children in India. We are driven by our mission to transform the school education system, focusing on improving children’s learning outcomes, especially in low-income communities.
(Learn more about CSF on our website)
About the Team:
The School Governance team at Central Square Foundation envisions a transformed school education delivery system that is principally accountable and transparent about its learning outcomes. It targets measuring and publicizing the achievement of quality outcomes in public and private schools and establishing a State Schools Standards Authority for schools based on this achievement.
Despite extensive efforts to increase access to education, learning outcomes have remained alarmingly stagnant in the current educational landscape. Major government initiatives have focused on expanding access and providing input but not improving educational outcomes. This absence of outcomes-oriented governance is aggravated by a regulatory system where the government runs its own schools and regulates all schools, posing a conflict of interest. Further, there is no way to reliably measure the learning quality of schools, making it difficult to hold them accountable for results.
CSF Schools Governance team acknowledges the pressing need for a systemic reform in education, which can be solved with a two-fold approach.
The states need to: –
- Establish a robust and reliable learning outcome indicator assessing student competencies in the form of a competency-based census assessment (CCA). This will involve public disclosure of school data but the student data shall remain anonymised. This will transparently show every school’s quality and nudge them to make the necessary improvements.
- Create an independent regulatory body, the State School Standards Authority (SSSA), which will operate outside the current Department of School Education. This body will focus on school regulation and demand accountability from all schools, government or private.
Position Summary
CSF is seeking a Project Manager, Assessments, based out of Guwahati, Assam, to build the state’s SCERT’s capacity to develop high-quality competency-based census assessments (CCA). The work will involve strengthening their processes for creating questions, blueprints and sample papers for primary and upper primary grade levels and developing the state’s curriculum framework. The fulfilment of the responsibilities will require effective coordination with other bodies of the state’s Education Department (the Directorate, the Board of Assessment, etc.). It is a full-time role, and the Project Manager would report to the Associate Director of the School Governance team.
Key Responsibilities
- Conduct capacity-building workshops to ensure the smooth functioning of, and delivery by, the Assessment Cell of Assam’s SCERT
- Set up project management processes and guidelines and ensure all activities drive towards the defined goals.
- Carry out relevant preliminary research as and when required
- Train the concerned personnel on using basic technology and improve their creation and review processes
- Curate and/or develop technology for various work streams of the program and facilitate their smooth rollout in coordination with the concerned departments
- Develop and manage strong working relationships with government stakeholders at the state and district levels
- Work with expert teams at CSF on the assigned work streams to contextualise the same for the state
- Knowledge management and documentation of the implementation of work in the state
Required Qualifications, Skills, and Abilities
- Bachelor’s degree from a reputed university; a Master’s degree preferred (in education, development studies, public policy, and social sciences)
- 2 to 6 years (for Project Manager) of work experience, preferably in the education sector, demonstrating a knowledge of curriculum development, assessment and/or content creation
- Keen interest in the Development/Education sector
- Fluent in English with excellent reading and writing skills. Preference will be given to candidates who know the local language (Assamese) well.
- Experience in handling large data and analysis (using R / Power BI / Tableau) is preferred.
- Past experience working with state and district-level governance and institutional structures is preferred.
- Knowledge and experience working on project management, large-scale program implementation with multiple delivery tracks, and researching and monitoring, among others
- Strong stakeholder management, problem-solving, and analytical skills
Additional Details
- Start Date: As soon as possible
- Compensation: Remuneration will be competitive with Indian philanthropy pay scales and depend upon the candidate’s experience levels.
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