Organization: UN Children’s Fund
Country: Ghana
Closing date: 12 Dec 2017

UNICEF works in 190 countries and territories to protect the rights of every child. UNICEF has spent 70 years working to improve the lives of children and their families. Defending children’s rights throughout their lives requires a global presence, aiming to produce results and understand their effects. UNICEF believes all children have a right to survive, thrive and fulfill their potential – to the benefit of a better world.

Background AND CONTEXT

Ghana is one of the few countries in sub-Saharan Africa which has prioritized the development of an Inclusive Education (IE) policy which was launched in 2016. The IE policy is committed to making the educational environment inclusive—that is, create an atmosphere in which all children feel valued and respected and have access to the same learning opportunities. In the first instance, the policy seeks to focus on inclusion of children identified with mild and moderate disabilities. However, the policy is clear on its vision to address the needs of all marginalised children – whether because of a disability or poverty or because they speak a different language or because of their gender.

The policy builds on the 1992 constitutional obligation to Free and Compulsory Universal Basic Education FCUBE), the current National Development Agenda, the Education Strategic Plan (current as well as the draft) and national commitments to international conventions and goals for creating an inclusive educational environment. With the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG goal 4 for education and the accompanying Education 2030 Framework for Action to deliver on the education goals, the need to accelerate progress on promoting equity and inclusion has never been more urgent.

UNICEF provided technical and facilitation support to Ministry of Education (MoE)/Ghana Education Service (GES) for the drafting of the policy and the accompanying standards and guidelines as well as the costed plan, including piloting of activities to promote enrolment of children with disabilities who are currently excluded from mainstream schools. The IE policy identifies a sustained focus on key areas, including: a) strengthening education systems to address inclusion; b) promoting school environments which are responsive to diversity of learners’ needs; & c) development of a well-informed and trained human resource cadre for the quality delivery of IE throughout Ghana.

Curriculum – relating to both pre-service and in-service teacher education as well as what is taught in schools and classrooms – has emerged as a central means for enacting the principles of inclusion and equity within the Ghanaian education system. Developing a curriculum that will include all learners may well involve broadening the definition of learning used by teachers and education decision-makers. The MoE in Ghana has support from the UK Government for improving and realigning Colleges of Education (CoE) in Ghana to deliver effective, relevant, and practitioner oriented Pre-service Teacher Education Programmes during 2015-18[1]. The programme is managed by Cambridge Education through the Transforming Teacher Education and Learning (T-TEL) project in collaboration with the MoE, the National Teaching Council (NTC) the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) and other relevant bodies.

T-TEL initiated its work in 2015 with a series of National Policy Dialogues with education stakeholders in Ghana. This has informed the ongoing development of initiatives that impact on the preparation of future teachers including the need for: a national vision for teacher education; developing national standards for teachers; a national competencies framework for teachers and ultimately, a new curriculum that will guide the training of teachers in Ghana[2]. In 2016-17, acknowledging the lack of appropriate teacher training materials and approach to IE for in-service teachers, UNICEF also supported the development of the IE In-Service Training Module in collaboration with Special Education Division, Teacher Education Division, and Curriculum Research and Development Division of the GES. In 2017 UNICEF further supported T-TEL to review the draft National Curriculum Framework for the CoEs as well as initiate work on developing the guidance note for the curriculum ‘writing teams’.

Against this background, UNICEF and T-TEL, as part of their broader partnerships with GES/MoE respectively, are further collaborating to support a common and integrated approach to mainstreaming inclusion and inclusivity in the ongoing development of the national curriculum for the Colleges of Education in Ghana. Building on its earlier support to T-TEL, UNICEF will facilitate the provision of both international (short-term) and national (one year) expertise to support the mainstreaming process.

[1] This initiative is part of the larger DFID (Department for International Development) supported Girls Participatory Approaches to Student Success (G-PASS) programme.

[2] For more details on T-TEL, please see http://www.t-tel.org/

SCOPE OF WORK AND EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

Working closely with UNICEF and T-TEL Secretariat and Technical Advisory Committee, the short-term international consultant will lead on the following:

A. Technical expertise and support:

Consultative process to support and empower stakeholders to clarify the approach to inclusive education within the teacher education curriculum, including its alignment with the IE policy and the available in-service teacher training module. In addition, also identifying additional areas of engagement relating to initial teacher education (ITE) which may add further value beyond the scope of the policy as well as the current limits of knowledge expected of the newly qualified teachers (NQTs).

Rationalise and scope out a three / four-year learning pathway in the areas of inclusivity and equity, across the duration of the new initial teacher education curriculum.

Provide inputs on mainstreaming inclusion through pre-defined curriculum writing templates to guide curriculum writers and development of course materials.

Provide quality assurance review of materials to ensure that inclusion has been mainstreamed throughout all materials.

Collaborate with national experts to ensure the deliverables are fit for purpose and are coherent with the vision for the curriculum, the National Teachers’ Standards and other areas of ITE curriculum development.

B. Capacity development:

Deliver training workshops for the different curriculum writing groups at the outset of the writing process, based on the guidelines developed.

Participate in curriculum writing and provide support to writers to use and apply inclusion mainstreaming inputs from the curriculum writing templates.

Provide overall guidance and targeted support towards the professional development of the national coordinator on inclusive teacher education to ensure sustained capacity within country.

Based on the defined scope of work, key consultancy deliverables include:

Inception Report which includes the review of existing resources and interventions related to T-TEL and IE policy in Ghana and also set out the approach, methodology, and work plan for delivering on the consultancy outputs – in consultation with T-TEL.

Vision document setting out the key expectations of what new teachers need to know, understand, and be able to do in order to teach and work with young people in ways which foster and values equity and inclusivity in Ghana.

Implementation Plan identifying what key actions need to be implemented across the three/four years of the new initial teacher education programme to realize the vision. The document should give consideration to the critical concepts, sequences and progression of learning, including: a) key concepts (knowledge, skills, attitudes and understanding) that trainees need to develop through the programme; b) sequencing of fundamental concepts – what needs to be mastered and when; c) identification of required prerequisite knowledge (including cultural and vocabulary); d) Map progression across the three/four years of the programme; & e) Make explicit staged essential learning expectations across three/four years of the programme.

Guidance templates and notes for curriculum writers on how to integrate inclusion within their subjects, addressing how the issues of equity and inclusivity can be introduced and explored through Pedagogic Studies and also embedded in all other aspects of curriculum. This guidance should be provided through the pre-defined curriculum writing templates and additional guidance notes, if necessary.

Annotated resource directory of key materials and resources that are available nationally and internationally that can be adapted and drawn on to support development of work in this area of the curriculum.

Training plan and delivery for curriculum writing groups during writers’ retreats on integrating equity and inclusivity within their subjects; and individualized capacity-building for the national coordinator for inclusive teacher education.

Quality assurance completed for all identified materials developed through the curriculum writing process to ensure its inclusivity.

V. DELIVERABLES AND SCHEDULE*

Refer to attached TOR for details of deliverables and task

LOCATION, REPORTING & ACCOUNTABILITY

The consultant is expected to work in close coordination with the larger T-TEL team and under direct day to day technical oversight and supervision of the key T-TEL adviser (Team Develop)

The technical consultant will receive support from the newly appointed national Inclusive Teacher Education coordinator on a day to day basis.

The consultancy will require a combination of in-country presence as well as remote work arrangement. During the in-country visits, the consultant will be based in the T-TEL office in Accra.

UNICEF’s involvement will be through the broader technical reference group of T-TEL and will not include the day to day management and supervision of the consultancy.

UNICEF Education Project Officer will be the referenced supervisor to lead on contract management and technical coordination; and will be supported by the Chief of Education on a need basis.

PAYMENT SCHEDULE

The total fee will be paid in instalments as outlined in the attached TOR.

Payment will only be made for work satisfactorily completed and accepted by T-TEL. UNICEF, on advice of T-TEL, reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs are incomplete, and or not delivered.

The travel and daily subsistence allowance portion for in-country visits will be discussed during the process/ time of selection and will be reimbursed separately according to agreed criteria. Duration and dates of travel will be agreed to with T-TEL prior to being arranged, undertaken and expensed. UNICEF travel rules will be complied with in all travels. Any variation in reimbursable travel should be authorized in writing by T-TEL and communicated to UNICEF.

Expected background and Experience

The international consultant is expected to have the following profile:

Academic qualifications:

Advanced degree in the field of education, international development, public policy, and other related and relevant social sciences;

Work experience:

At least 8 years of experience in developing, managing and delivering training programmes to improve the quality of Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa; familiarity and previous work experience in Ghana is desirable;

Technical knowledge:

Sound knowledge of the workings of teacher education in Ghana (desirable) or elsewhere (international experience required);

Excellent understanding of education for sustainable development-related pedagogy in teacher education

Expertise in inclusion in ITE; and good understanding of Ghana’s Inclusive Education landscape and emerging principles and priorities of the National Teachers’ Standards and the National Teacher Education Curriculum Framework is desirable.

Personal skills and capacities:

Strong interpersonal skills, including demonstrated ability to interact effectively in cross-cultural environments and with representatives from different stakeholder groups;

Proven experience of the ability to manage others and provide strategic leadership and guidance;

Strong written and oral communication in English; and analytical skills to identify strengths and weaknesses in written content and offer appropriate advice.

Capacity to work independently and in collaboration with a variety of partners;

Demonstrated ability to adjust plans and approaches in response to changes in context; and

Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines and deliver quality outputs;

Strong facilitation skills

General Conditions

The Consultancy will not be office based so UNICEF will NOT provide office space, equipment (including laptop) and access to facilities such as printers and the internet at its offices during in-country visits.

T-TEL is responsible for consultancy related stationery and office materials/consumables and access to facilities such as printers and the internet at its offices. Consultants are expected to use their own laptops.

T-TEL is responsible for arranging local transportation for meetings in Accra.

Policy both parties should be aware of

Under the consultancy agreements, a month is defined as 21 working days, and fees are prorated accordingly. Consultants are not paid for weekends or public holidays.

Consultants are not entitled to payment of overtime. All remuneration must be within the contract agreement.

No contract may commence unless the contract is signed by both UNICEF and the consultants or Contractor. For international consultants outside the duty station, signed contracts must be sent by fax or email.

Signed contract copy or written agreement must be received by the office and Travel Authorization (TA) issued before travel commences.

Unless authorised, UNICEF will buy the tickets of the consultants. In exceptional cases, the consultant may be authorised to buy their travel tickets and shall be reimbursed at the “most economical and direct route” but this must be agreed to beforehand. All travel will be in economy class.

Consultants will not have supervisory responsibilities or authority on UNICEF budget.

Consultants will be required to sign the Health statement for consultants/Individual contractor prior to taking up the assignment, and to document that they have appropriate health insurance, including Medical Evacuation.

The Form ‘Designation, change or revocation of beneficiary’ must be completed by the consultants upon arrival, at the HR Section.

Application Procedure

The application package should comprise of the following:

Cover letter expressing your interest, why you are best placed to undertake the assignment and availability to complete the assignment during the proposed timeframe;

Profile (P-11 form);

Curriculum Vitae highlighting the expected background and experience. In particular, please provide and highlight at least name of one referee who can speak to your work in Inclusion and Teacher Education.

Preliminary proposal mapping out: a) proposed timeframe, approach, and methodology for undertaking the assignment; b) identification of relevant resources; c) anticipated information needs; d) approach to individual capacity-building of the national coordinator for inclusive teacher education; & e) Candidates should indicate proposed daily professional fees in US Dollars;

Samples of previous work/reports (e-copies) which demonstrate your capacity to undertake the current assignment. If you are submitting a work/report where you are a contributor, please specify what you were responsible for and what you contributed to.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organization.TOR UNICEF-T-TEL_international.docx

How to apply:

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organization. To apply, click on the following link http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/?job=509292