Re advertised: Consultant for providing technical support to Tinkering with Tech initiative

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, quality education.

In close cooperation with partner institutions and international organizations, UNICEF initiated and supported systemic and comprehensive reforms of the education system. Key reform initiatives include the following: a comprehensive Education Reform Strategy (2025 – 2035) was developed and adopted by the Government of Montenegro in April 2025, an assessment of the teacher professional development system was conducted with recommendations integrated in the new Strategy, a range of programmatic interventions were supported to ensure quality implementation of the Education Digitalization Strategy (2022 – 2027), as well as smart and inclusive integration of digital tools and technologies in education.

One of the flagship initiatives in the field of digital education was the Tinkering with Tech program, conducted in cooperation with the UNICEF Learning Innovation Hub, the Micro Bit Foundation, and the Global Office of Research and Foresight (Innocenti).

The Tinkering with Tech (TwT) initiative, developed under the Learning Innovation Hub (LIH), aims to develop key 21st-century skills among students and spark interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) through playful interaction with micro:bit devices. It encourages teachers and students to explore digital creativity and apply technology to address local and global challenges, fostering creativity, collaboration, problem-solving, and innovation through hands-on, interdisciplinary learning.

In 2024, the Bureau for Education, as the key implementing partner, with support of UNICEF, successfully implemented the pilot phase of TwT. The Montenegrin pilot was acknowledged by UNICEF Learning Innovation Hub (among four participating countries globally) for its exemplary implementation and the quality of feedback it produced, which played a key role in refining the design of the global TwT model. The pilot phase of the “Tinkering with Tech” project (June–December 2024) was successfully implemented in Montenegro under the partnership of the Bureau for Education, UNICEF, and the Micro:bit Foundation. It involved 12 primary schools, 23 teachers, and 549 fifth-grade students, focusing on developing 21st-century skills through creative use of micro:bit microcomputers. Teachers received face-to-face training and continuous mentoring through a Community of Practice hosted on Microsoft Teams. Over classroom sessions, students designed projects addressing climate action and sustainable cities, culminating in the Grand Challenge event where they showcased their innovations.

With support of the UNICEF Learning Innovation Hub and UNICEF Montenegro, and based on the successful pilot phase, the Tinkering with Tech project will be expanded to include more schools, teachers, and students during the 2025/26 school year, to ensure sustained implementation of quality digital solutions as part of the national Education Digitalization Strategy (2022 – 2027).

How can you make a difference?

UNICEF is seeking a dedicated national consultant to assist in a wide range of activities requiring specific expertise regarding the phases of the Tinkering with Tech scale-up. The consultant will be working under the supervision of the Education Officer NoB, in close cooperation with Quality Education & Adolescent Development team.

The key important activities that will need to be completed through this assignment are as follows:

• Support Bureau for Education in developing a practical and transparent process for selecting additional schools in all three regions of Montenegro; support readiness checks and brief schools on expectations, timelines, and support channels.
• Support coordination among partner institutions and organizations (UNICEF–Burau for Education–Learning Innovation Hub –Micro Bit Foundation – schools
• Maintain regular communication with the Learning Innovation Hub and provide ongoing support to the UNICEF CO team and the Bureau for Education.
• Support the Bureau for Education in ensuring pedagogical alignment and quality; coordinate translation/localization and deliver bilingual (MNE/ENG) files ready for print and digital.
• Prepare reference briefs for schools on design thinking, micro:bit integration, and safe/ethical use of technology/AI.
• Co-plan and facilitate a preparatory meeting with representatives of participating schools; capture decisions and next steps in joint notes
• Support organization of the National Tinkering withTech Launch, including the participant roster, invitations, agenda, speaker briefs, and run-of-show; develop and deliver relevant project presentations
• Support school leadership teams in all selected schools to embed Tinkering with Tech initiative into school year annual planning and Continuous Professional Development plans.
• Co-design and co-deliver a practical teacher training (3-day trainings for two groups of teachers), along with international and Bureau for Education trainers; support development of training materials, hands-on activities, and evidence of learning for accreditation.
• Prepare set of accreditation files for the training certification at the national level
• Plan, set up and administer an online Community of Practice with Bureau for Education focal points through structured channels, resource library, peer demo lessons, regular Q&A/office hours ; facilitate regular online meetings and maintain other means of synchronous and asynchronous communication, with regular  detailed reports prepared for Bureau for Education, UNICEF and Learning Innovation Hub.
• Provide ongoing support to teachers by organizing and facilitating joint in-person meetings at the Bureau for Education premises.
• Plan and conduct scheduled joint school support visits with the Bureau for Education focal point for all participating schools (at least 22 schools), including meetings with school principals, classroom observations, and teacher coaching sessions.
• Develop and use shared classroom activities observation and teacher coaching tool and provide feedback summaries to teachers and principals.
• Provide technical and methodological support to teachers in 22 schools (expected number of teachers: 66) through various online and offline channels to introduce design thinking and basic programming concepts, and to promote the effective classroom use of micro:bit devices.
• Administer and configure the UNICEF Montenegro instance of the Learning Passport Platform for the Tinkering with Tech initiative; administer and adopt the platform to host Tinkering with Tech content; convert and upload core materials to the Learning Passport; administer basic course settings, enrolment, and certificates; share monthly usage snapshots with Bureau for Education and UNICEF.
• Maintain a shared monitoring & learning dashboard (training completion, Community of Practice engagement, visit notes) and regularly propose improvements.
• Support the research component (contextualize survey instruments, coordinate with schools, schedule data collection, assist the research agency on logistics/quality, review the draft assessment), ensuring consent and data-protection standards.
• Co-organize the Final Event/Grand Challenge with the Bureau for Education; develop a detailed event program, agenda, participant roster, and invitations, and provide guidance and support to schools in preparing student project presentations that showcase their results. Design and prepare certificate templates for teachers, students, and schools, a post-event report for the Bureau for Education and UNICEF, and a promotional package for the Bureau’s social media channels.

Project duration: 1 December 2025 – 30 June 2026, with the number of working days estimated at 105 during a seven-month implementation period.

Work Assignment Overview                                                                                                                                                                    Tasks/Milestone                            Deliverables/Outputs                                                       Timeline
1.	Project design, selection process criteria, project launch and alignment with school-based annual planning	Selection criteria developed and process implementation note prepared; internal readiness-check template; online school briefings. Pedagogical alignment and quality check: bilingual (MNE/ENG) trainer guide, handouts & slides; terminology list prepared. Development of reference brief on design thinking, micro:bit integration, safe/ethical AI in line with UNICEF recommendations. Preparatory meeting for the launch and National Launch organisation; event agenda and detailed plan developed; project presentation prepared. Developed guidance note for school annual/CPD plans.	By 15 December 2025 (7 days)
2.	Teacher training; design, accreditation & delivery support	Finalized 3‑day teacher training program, agenda and materials. Set of accreditation files for the training certification prepared. Teacher training delivery along with international experts. Report prepared from two 3‑day training sessions with specific guidance for further support teachers.	By 25 December 2025 (15 days)
3.	Community of Practice (CoP) establishment and facilitation	MS Teams Community od Practice, with structured channels, document library, and discussion space established and moderated At least 14 weekly maintenance and update of CoP, including various types of asynchronous and synchronous communication constantly maintained and facilitated 7 Bi-weekly online Teams meetings prepared and facilitated, with detailed reports prepared for Bureau for Education, UNICEF and Learning Innovation Hub	By 30 April 2026 (15 days)
4.	School support visits and meetings	Observation/coaching tool for school visits created At least 22 school visits (meeting with school principal, class observations and coaching sessions with technical (micro:bit and basics of programming) and methodological support, with reports prepared for each visit. Planning, organizing and facilitating two joint meetings with teachers at Bureau for Education premises	By 1 May 2026 (25 days)
5.	Research support	Coordinate data collection with research agency. Support to instruments development and contextualisation Ensure communication with school, teachers and parents, consent & quality assurance (documented).	By 5 May 2026 (5 days)
6.	Final event (Grand Challenge)	Detailed event program and agenda developed Support to schools on student project presentations preparations (3-min videos) prepared for sharing Schools’ showcase guidance created Preparation of the presentation of project results Certificate templates created for teachers, students and schools Post-event report prepared for the Bureau for Education and UNICEF Promotional package for Bureau for Education social media created	By 20 May 2026 (6 days)
7.	Learning Passport Platform (Digionica) administration and adoption for the Tinkering with Tech initiative	Learning path/ dedicated space for the Tinkering with Tech initiative configured on the Country Office Learning Passport instance. Capacity-building session for teachers conducted on the use of Digital School platform services. Three learning courses created and fully managed, including enrolment and certificate issuance. Seven monthly analytical reports produced on the use of Digital School platform courses related to the Tinkering with Tech initiative.	By 1 June 2026 (17 days)
8.	Overall quality assurance for implementation of the Tinkering with Tech initiative and final report (approved and accepted by UNICEF)	Maintained project action/risk tracker (updated continuously) Coordination of partners (UNICEF–BES–LIH–MBF): bi-weekly coordination notes (at least 10) Final report delivered	By 20 June 2026 (15 days)

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

Education:

• University degree in social sciences.
• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) will be considered as an advantage.
• Certified teacher trainer

Experience:

• A minimum of 15 years of relevant professional work experience in the education sector.
• In-depth knowledge of the Montenegrin education system.
• Proven experience in teaching, classroom observation and mentoring in primary or secondary schools.
• Experience in coordinating multi-stakeholder projects and maintaining effective communication among education partners and institutions.
• Experience in administration and moderation of the Learning Passport Platform or similar online learning systems.
• Expertise in providing methodological and technical support to teachers, particularly in the areas of digital learning, coding, and micro:bit-based classroom practice.
• Proven experience in establishing or moderating online teacher communities of practice
• Experience in designing, facilitating, and evaluating teacher training and professional learning activities
• Experience in educational or social research, including the development, piloting, and contextualization of research instruments, along with proven experience in coordinating field data collection in school settings.
• Excellent organizational and facilitation skills required.
• Excellent knowledge of English and Montenegrin, including writing and presentation skills
• Previous work experience with UN/UNICEF or other international organizations will be considered as an advantage.

Language:

• Fluency in Montenegrin and English are required.

Other:

• Excellent writing skills, presentation skills, strong strategic and analytical skills.
• Ability to work with different stakeholders.
• Demonstrates tact and a high sense of responsibility and discretion.
• Demonstrates integrity and high ethical standards.
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
• The consultant must have proof that they possess a teacher trainer certificate in one or more of the following areas of relevance to the project: digital education, civic education

Payment schedule:

The payments will be made upon successful completion of the deliverables 2, 3, 6 and 8, submission of invoices as per above delivery schedule.