If you are a
committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting
difference for children, the world’s leading children’s rights organization
would like to hear from you.
For 70 years, UNICEF
has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote
children’s survival, protection and development. The world’s largest provider
of vaccines for developing countries, U
NICEF supports child health and
nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and
girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS.
UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals,
businesses, foundations and governments.
Background
and Context
The Government of
Rwanda (GoR) recognizes the importance of pre-primary as one of the most
important levers for accelerating the attainment of the Sustainable Development
Goals. The GoR has demonstrated its commitment to the well-being of young
children by signing various global policy frameworks such as the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the World Conference on EFA,
especially the significance of the early years as the foundation for the life
of an individual.
Education policies
also call for every child to access three years of pre-primary education. The
Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) 2013-2018 identifies pre-primary has a
key sectoral priority and lays out key targets for expanding access to
pre-primary services, particularly for the more marginalized children.
In 2016, the GoR
approved a comprehensive ECD Policy and implementation plan, specifying
interventions to support children’s full physical, psychological, emotional and
cognitive potential. These policies are aligned with renewed government
commitments under the EDPRS II, and the revised Vision 2020 targets.
In line with these
policies, the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) has made significant progress
toward expanding access to early childhood education. Between years 2012 and
2016 the GoR increased the pre-primary gross enrolment ratio (GER) from 13% to
24% and the number of pre-primary centers from 1,870 to 2,757 (MINEDUC, 2016).
In 2014, MINEDUC established a pre-service teacher training programme for
pre-primary school teachers, in an effort to professionalize the pre-primary
teacher workforce. In 2016, MINEDUC approved the first ever national
pre-primary competence-based curriculum, trained all pre-primary school
teachers on the new curriculum and approved national learning and assessment
standards for preprimary. The Rwanda Education Board (REB) and its partners
continue to advance learning and teaching materials for pre-primary.
Despite this
progress, equitably expanding access to pre-primary education and maintaining
good quality of services remains a challenge. Given the new and fast expansion
of early learning services in Rwanda, the nature and quality of existing
services has remained to a certain extent unregulated. According to MINEDUC
statistics, the majority of pre-primary services can be grouped into three
categories:
pre-primary centers attached to primary schools;
pre-primary centers, largely run by civil society organizations (CSOs), private
organizations or faith-based organizations; and
Non-formal centers run by parents and communities.
In order to better
recognize and regulate existing pre-primary services, MINEDUC requires a
minimum set of quality assurance standards and guidelines for direct delivery
of services to children. These standards will help MINEDUC to evaluate, grade
and monitor pre-primary services, to build the capacity of the pre-primary
system, and to more efficiently distribute supplies and equipment required for
the delivery of quality services for all children.
It is against this
background that MINEDUC is hiring an individual consultant to develop minimum
national early childhood education standards
Purpose of
the Assignment
The overall
objective of the assignment is to support the development of minimum national
pre-primary standards and guidelines. These minimum standards and guidelines
should provide a means for MINEDUC to certify centres and provide a pathway for
scaling-up access to and accounting for alternative pre-primary models.
The consultancy will
be carried out for a period of 6
months from the time the contract is signed. The entire work
will be conducted in Rwanda and meant for pre-primary schools in Rwanda.
Specifically, the
ToR aims to support MINEDUC to:
1. Assess and analyze
existing pre-primary services offered to pre-school aged children (3-6 years);
2. Bring partners in
pre-primary together to develop, draft and agree on the minimum pre-primary
standards and guidelines;
3. Define criteria
and methodology for rating the level of quality for pre-primary centers
(suggested rating: Gold, silver and bronze) and design practical tools to
support MINEDUC and REB to apply the standards and guidelines and quality
ratings.
Assignment
Tasks
1. Assess
and analyze existing pre-primary services offered to pre-school aged children
(3-6 years)
To achieve this
objective, the consultant is expected to produce two reports. First, the
individual consultant will undertake a comprehensive desk review of studies,
national policies and strategies related to pre-primary in Rwanda. This
analysis will be accompanied by review of the ECD Standards for Rwanda, minimum
standards and guidelines for pre-primary from other countries in east Africa
and beyond, methodologies used to develop them and lessons learned. The results
of these analyses should be summarized in an inception report that includes: a
background section, a literature review and a detailed methodology for the
remaining deliverables, objectives, data collection tools, the proposal of the
content and a clear work plan.
Second, the
individual consultant should undertake a thorough analysis of at least 50
pre-primary centers in Rwanda of varying types (Government, private), settings
and levels of quality. This analysis should be based on criteria agreed by
UNICEF, MINEDUC and REB. The criteria should include at least the following key
issues: Physical Environment, children’s health and safety practices,
relationships between children and educators, partnerships and networking (with
families and communities), teachings aids, teacher qualifications, and learning
materials pre-school aged children (3 – 6 years). The results of the analysis
should be documented in a report and summary presentation and presented to all
partners.
2. Bring
partners in pre-primary together to develop, draft and agree on the minimum
standards and guidelines
The individual
consultant will work with UNICEF, MINEDUC, REB and partners to discuss and
agree on the nature, content and format for the standards and guidelines. This
should all be taken into consideration to align and complement the ECD
Standards for Rwanda.
Initial discussions
with partners suggest that the minimum standards and guidelines should cover
the following areas:
Physical Environment, facilities, and equipment;
Children’s health and safety practices including health, nutrition, food
service; hygiene, etc.;
secure relationships between children and educators;
effective partnership and networking (with families and communities);
Teachings aids and learning for materials pre-school aged children (3 –
6 years);
Establishment and registration of pre-primary centers (infrastructure,
equipment, personnel…) and training institutions; and
Pre-primary service providers’ management, administration, supervision
and accountability of pre-primary programs for children.
qualifications and trainings;The individual consultant will be expected to
produce an initial draft and present it to MINEDUC, REB and partners through established
working groups. The consultant will incorporate all comments to produce a
second and third drafts. The individual consultant will communicate regularly
with UNICEF and MINEDUC and REB.
The final draft of
the report will need to be submitted in a designed final format ready for
printing in both English and Kinyarwanda.
3. Define
criteria and methodology for rating the level of quality for pre-primary
centers (suggested rating: Gold, silver and bronze) and design practical tools
to support MINEDUC and REB to apply the standards and guidelines and quality
ratings.
Based on the
standards and guidelines and on the review of existing pre-primary centers, the
individual consultant will establish a methodology and rating system for
evaluating the quality of pre-primary centers. The rating system should make it
clear which centers meet national standards and thus are within regulations,
which are en route to meeting national standards and which are not. For
example, such a rating system could assign a Gold, Silver and/or Bronze level
grade to each center.
Based on the
analyses above and the methodology for assessing the status of different
pre-primary centers, the individual consultant should develop the actual
assessment tools to be used to conduct the evaluations of pre-primary centers.
The tools could include a tool for the inspectorate or a school self-assessment
tool. The draft tools should be agreed by MINEDUC, REB and partners and tested
in fields before finalization.
The criteria,
methodology, rating system, and related tools should be summarized in a brief
guide for users.
Expected
Deliverables
The individual
consultant will be required to deliver the following:
Deliverable
Deadline
Percentage
payment
Inception report and
analytical report on existing pre-primary services
Last date of first
month after signing the contract
30%
Final draft of
standards and guidelines, in publishable format in English and Kinyarwanda
Last date of 5th
month
40%
Final guide on
applying methodology, rating system and related tools
Last date of 6th
month.
30%
All the deliverables
need to meet UNICEF requirement and quality standards. Payment will only made
for work satisfactorily completed and accepted by UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the
right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory,
if work/outputs is incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines.
Qualifications
of Successful Candidate
Education
individual consultant should at least have a Master’s degree in any of the
following areas: pre-primary studies, Public Policy development studies, Social
Development; sociology, psychology, education sciences, human rights and law
Years of
relevant experience
consultant should have at least 5 years’ of proven experience in pre-primary
education and/or in education;
individual consultant should be familiar with policies, laws and development
frameworks of education system in Rwanda.
individual consultant should have the ability to meet the deadlines;
individual consultant should have strong communication and facilitation skills;
Proficiency in written and spoken English and knowledge of Kinyarwanda
is required, French would be an advantage;
Please
indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate (in US$) to
undertake the terms of reference above (including travel and daily subsistence
allowance, if applicable). Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate
will not be considered.
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
organisation.
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=508879
