Standards and Accreditation Consultant (for non-formal education), International Consultancy , home based with travel, 14 months

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, hope

 

The European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operation (ECHO) is working with UNICEF to support Lebanon in facing the complex challenges that prevent all children from enrolling, remaining, and learning in schools. ECHO is funding the action “establishing multiple flexible pathways system to reduce barriers and reach the most vulnerable out of school children in Lebanon.” The overall aim of the action is to address the rigidity of the framework for non-formal education (NFE) that is currently in place and the low transition rate from NFE to formal education. This requires putting in place a Multiple Flexible Pathways framework aiming at delivering accredited NFE programmes that provide realistic procedures to permit transition between the non-formal and formal education. To achieve this flexibility, the formal and non-formal education systems require a mechanism to communicate how the achievements of individuals in one of the systems reflect the expectations in the other. The non-formal system needs to devise mechanisms to demonstrate the achievements of their students in the scale or grade system of the formal system in a reliable manner. To this end, UNICEF proposes establishing accreditation and certification evidence-based procedures that are officially sanctioned by the formal and non-formal education systems.

The UNICEF/ECHO action intends to pilot the design by allowing a group of pupils to undergo all steps of the certification process (e.g., registering in a system developed to host the data base of certifications, provide evidence of minimum number of hours of participation in the non-formal education programme, registration of qualitative and formative results, registration of standardized or performance-based proof of competency, archival of impartial judgment and certificate awarded to be retrieved for use when the student transitions to formal education or when seeking employment) and the parameters and conditions of the School Information Management System (SIMS) (e.g., associate the certification of the student to her/his unique identifier in the SIMS). In brief, achieving this will require:

1. Conducting expert consultation to establish the conceptual definition of benchmarks for certification.
2. Identifying tools (or construct tools, if none are available) that are valid and reliable to determine performance levels against the certification benchmarks.
3. Piloting and reviewing of certification SOPs that require clear performance criteria.

The responsibilities under this consultancy are:

1. Design a consultation process with relevant decision makers to establish the subjects or areas that should be considered for certification within an accreditation process that seeks to facilitate the transition between non-formal and formal education systems. The benchmarks should be based on current information of the actual performance of students in public formal education and not solely on the prescriptions contained in the national curriculum or similar documents.
2. Advise and orient the activities of a national consultant who will implement the consultation process with subject specialist and other national actors at the level of the regions.
3. Conduct interviews and consultations on the standards, benchmarks and potential procedures with relevant actors in high-level, decision-making positions (including donors).
4. Assist the national consultant in selecting relevant actors and in conducting the interviews and consultations with these actors.
5. Conduct overall data analysis and reporting.
6. Coordinate with the national consultant the logistics, agenda and schedule of interviews and consultations.
7. Design and facilitate the national workshop on certification and accreditation
8. Coordinate with teams strengthening other components of the education system that can affect the certification or archival functions of accreditation.
9. Design the SOPs for accreditation and its pilot.
10. Coordinate and report the pilot of accreditation SOPs (including setting the scope of the pilot in terms of number of cases to be included). 

Additionally:

• The consultant is required to take a technical leadership position in the consultation process, in developing and piloting the SOPs and in aligning the review and selection of tools (separate consultancy) to the SoPs.  The consultant will work closely with the national consultant and coordinate in a regular basis with the UNICEF Lebanon Country Office (LCO) team.
• The consultant will report directly to UNICEF Lebanon’s education section.
• The consultant will coordinate and collaborate with the education sector decision-makers and with the support of a national consultant.
• The international consultant, whether based in Lebanon or not, will be expected to spend at least 10 days in Lebanon (continuous or non-continuous, as pertinent) to complete the assigned tasks.
• This consultancy is estimated to take 50 full-time workdays and span for 14 months. The consultancy is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2023.
• The consultant is expected to provide his own equipment (e.g., computer, mobile telephone, etc.).
• Travel costs should be included in the financial proposal as per description in the “Evaluation Process and Method” section.
• Regular TEAMS meetings will be held among the Lebanon Country Office, the International Consultant and the National Consultant.
• The consultant will organize the work independently but ensuring alignment with the progress of the UNICEF education programme and in coordination with other consultants working in the action.

How can you make a difference? 

Tasks/Milestone:	Deliverables/Outputs:	Timeline
Prepare work plan to meet the objectives of the consultancy.	A document containing an introduction and the work plan to meet the following: Design a consultation process to establish the subjects or areas to be considered for certification and provide inputs for its standards. Advise the national consultant who implements the consultation. Conduct interviews and consultations with relevant actors in high-level, decision-making positions (including donors). Assist the national consultant in her/his own consultation process. Overall data analysis and reporting. Coordinate logistics and agenda with the national consultant. Design and facilitate the national workshop on certification and accreditation. Coordinate with other teams working in areas adjacent to the certification or archival functions of accreditation. To design the SOPs for accreditation and its pilot. To coordinate and report the pilot of accreditation SOPs.	To be delivered by 21 July 2023.
Design and plan of consultation process to establish the subjects or areas to be considered for certification and provide inputs for its standards. The plan should contain the methodology and the calendar  establishing activities and due-dates for  the consultation process (including when possible the target population or, in lieu of this, the mechanism to establish the population or individuals targeted for the consultation).	A document containing the methodology of the consultation and a calendar establishing activities and due-dates for the consultation process (including when possible the target population or, in lieu of this, the mechanism  to establish the population or individuals targeted for the consultation).	To be delivered by 28 July 2023
Provide and document the technical support and advise provided to the national consultant; coordination with the national consultant of the logistics, agenda and schedule of interviews and consultations; work with the national consultant in selecting relevant actors and in conducting the interviews and consultations with these actors.	Monthly brief reports on hours invested as per the needs of the implementation; the report must specify the support that was provided and its outcome. The report must also align each activity/outcome to the objectives of this consultancy (please see description under the first activity in this list, above).	By the last calendar day of each month for 13 months and the last report to be delivered by 16 September 2024.
Conduct interviews and consultations on the standards, benchmarks and potential procedures with relevant actors in high-level decision-making positions (including donors) and integrate its result into an overarching report (i.e., including results from the consultant’s own consultations, interviews and literature reviews, as well as those from the national consultant).	Report containing the analysis of all interviews and consultations, the content analysis of these and a description of how its findings will be associated to the benchmarks and/or accreditation procedures. The report must contain an annex or associated media containing selective transcription or recordings of the interviews.	To be delivered by 22 September of 2023.
Design and facilitate the national workshop on certification and accreditation.	The report of the outcomes from the national workshop on certification and accreditation. This report should contain the conclusions from participants regarding the subjects to be accredited, their vies on the benchmarks and their suggestions on the SOP steps (including the proposal of the national agencies or institutions that can lead on each step). The report should include in its annexes (a) a workshop plan cleared by UNICEF and MEHE previous to the workshop; (b) a list of participants and their affiliation; (c) the criteria used to select the participants.	To be delivered by 29 March of 2024.
Design the SOPs for accreditation: -Design the flowchart, forms and templates to conduct the accreditation process in English; -Provide technical support during the piloting of these steps and systematize findings from the pilot; -Modify the original proposal of SOPs based on the findings from the pilot.	A document/handbook/description of the final SOP procedure. Attached to this document the consultant should include the version of the SOP that had been cleared for the pilot, the consultant’s analysis of the pilot findings, all templates and tools that need to be used to undertake the steps described in the SOPs.	To be delivered no later than 16 September 2024

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

• PhD or masters in Education or other related field. 
• At least 5 years of experience in work on  accreditation, assessment, certification or certification for candidates holding a PhD and at least 10 years of experience for candidates holding a Masters degree. 
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.
• Practical familiarity/experience with accreditation, certification, assessment or standard-setting in education.
• Ability to write succinct, clear and comprehensive reports, manuals, frameworks or guidelines on accreditation, certification, assessment or standard-setting in education.
• Conceptual familiarity with certification, accreditation, assessment and standard systems in different countries is required.
• Empirical familiarity with accreditation, certification, assessment or standard-setting in education in the Middle East is an asset.

Interested candidates must submit:

• A cover letter presenting the interest and suitability of the candidate for the post.
• Updated CV.
• A sample work of a report, manual, framework or guideline on accreditation, certification, assessment or standard-setting in education that reflects the competencies the candidate intends to employ to fulfill this consultancy.
• A brief description of the components that the candidate will consider in developing a proposal of SOP for accreditation (no longer than 2 pages).
• A financial proposal containing three items: (a) proposed daily rate; (b) proposed cost of each visit to Lebanon (include costs of airfare, DSA and other relevant costs such as insurance; do not include workdays); (c) estimation of necessary days to produce each deliverable (the indicated days may be the same as suggested in the TORs or differ from those that have been suggested).

For every Child, you demonstrate… 

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS). 

To view our competency framework, please visit  here. 

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment. 

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 be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check. 

Remarks:  

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. 

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws. 

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.