L’UNICEF recrute un Consultant international chargé d’élaborer une feuille de route pour un programme d’apprentissage numérique pour le ministère de l’éducation de base et de l’enseignement secondaire (MoBSE), Gambie
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For every child, Education
The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE), in the 2016 – 2030 Education Policy4 , has committed to the provision of textbooks and instructional materials that are digitally-based; research to development of new programmes of study, textbooks and digital materials; introduction of digitalized 1 The Gambia – Country Profile – Nations Online Project 2 gdp per capita gambia – Google Search 3 Integrated Household Survey of The Gambia (IHS 2015/16) 4 Education Policy 2016-2030 web version.pdf 2 interactive teaching and learning materials; and connecting schools to the internet with a view to establishing digital libraries. During the policy period, digital materials will be developed and supplied to teachers and students. The ‘Feasibility study for The Gambia Digital Literacy and Skills development’ has reported that since 2017, the online environment has improved in the country. The mobile phone penetration rates is one of the highest in Africa, standing at 141.2 per cent in 2017 partly due to many people with more than one subscription. The number of internet users stood at a little above 580 thousand in January 2021, increasing by 108 thousand (+23 per cent) between 2020 and 2021. As of 2021, there were 430 thousand (17.5 per cent of the total population) social media users in The Gambia, the number of which increased by 60 thousand (+16 per cent) between 2020 and 2021. Mobile connections stood at 4.02 million (164.1 per cent of the total population) in January 2021, increasing by 174 thousand (+4.5 per cent) between January 2020 and January 2021.5 The Gambia, like many Sub-Saharan countries, is experiencing a learning crisis. According to the MICS 2018, the percentage of children aged 7-14 years who demonstrate foundational reading skills was 11.2% and 9% for numeracy. The World Bank terms it a “learning poverty”- wherein children of age 10 years cannot read a simple text. With fewer children accessing alternate ways of curriculum delivery through radio and television, the learning crisis has become a bigger challenge which would require many years to catch up, if it ever happens for some children. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability inherent in The Gambia’s education system. At the height of the pandemic when all the schools were closed, more than 700,000 children suffered from an interruption in their learning. More than 60% (420,000) of these children could not access any of the few distance learning platforms that had been established as part of the education sector COVID-19 response plan. The rest intermittently accessed distance learning through radio and television. This was regularly interrupted by frequent electricity power outages and parents’ inability to sustainably provide batteries for radio sets. Less than 10 per cent of school children could access internet-based learning platforms. This was complemented with the COVID-19 U-Report survey on access to distance l;earning. Even so, the national bandwidth is too small resulting in many challenges such as downloading heavy files. Whilst the COVID-19 pandemic has unravelled significant structural deficiencies in the education sector, it also presents important opportunities to introduce a paradigm shift in the way learning occurs, especially for the most vulnerable children.
How can you make a difference?
Whilst the COVID-19 pandemic has unravelled significant structural deficiencies in the education sector, it also presents important opportunities to introduce a paradigm shift in the way learning occurs, especially for the most vulnerable children. This consultancy is therefore intended to develop a roadmap to conduct a landscape & contextual analysis and for a Digital Learning programme. The national education Policy 2016 – 2030 commits to implement digital learning to complement face-to-face curriculum delivery mode. Digital learning will also ensure continuity of learning when school are forced to close. The consultancy will assess the human capacity, the infrastructure and the existing initiatives relating to digital learning. The data and information acquired will support the implementation of the roadmap. The objectives of the assignment are to:
- Undertake an analysis of the digital divide amongst children and young people in The Gambia, including availability, quality and use of digital learning content and platforms, the skills gap for digital learning among teachers, students, parents and other relevant stakeholders.
- Assess the accessibility and connectivity of schools, learning centres and communities to the internet. The analysis will also look into gaps and bottlenecks that would impact the quantitative and qualitative expansion of digital learning in terms of learning content and platforms, human capacity, and internet connectivity.
- Map out and assess the government’s ongoing and planned initiatives and programmes aimed to improve digital connectivity and learning.
- Map out and assess ongoing and planned initiatives and programmes of other partners such as mobile phone companies, internet service providers, and other international development partners as relevant. Identify strengths and weaknesses and potential areas of collaboration between digital learning stakeholders.
- Provide practical recommendations on key strategies and priorities to be taken by the government, the private sector and development partners including UNICEF to increase internet connectivity and expand and improve digital learning across The Gambia.
- Provide an analysis of UNICEF’s added value in this area and a potential role for future work and collaboration in promoting digital learning
Methodology
The strength of any application by interested parties will partly depend on the soundness of the methodology(ies) proposed. To this end, you are flexible to apply any methodology. However, whatever methodology is proposed in any application, it must include wider stakeholder consultation as a key strategy.
2. Schedule of Tasks, Deliverables, Duty-Station & Timeline
The following are the key tasks and deliverables for the consultancy. The consultant is welcome to modify to be in line with his/her methodology. However, the deliverables will remain unchanged. Bearing in mind that the consultant may have multiple assignments running simultaneously, the assignment engagement will remain 57 working days and should be completed within two months period.
Duty station matters and official travels
- This consultancy can be carried out remotely, therefore no office space will be provided. However, he/she may be required to visit UNICEF Gambia Office for debriefing and updating meetings.
- The Consultant will be contracted for 57 working days over a period of four months. This is to allow laspes in securing interviews, relevant data and comments from key stakeholders.
- The consultant will be responsible for his/her own internal travel arrangements or any other logistic requirements. These may be included in the financial proposal.
- UNICEF and MoBSE will be available for consultations, debriefing and validation of the preliminary findings.
3. Estimated duration of contract; Remuneration; Other Terms and Conditions
The consultant will be engaged under short-term individual contract on part-time basis, for an estimated period of 57 working days from July to October 2023. If the applicant meets the technical requirements, the Consultancy fees may be subjected to negotiated based on value for money and in line with UNICEF standards and terms of payment as stipulated below.
| Payment Schedule | Deliverable |
| 1st payment: 30% | Submission of inception report |
| 2nd payment 30% | Submission of First Draft Report
Power Point Presentation summarizing the draft report and preliminary findings |
| Final Payment: 40% | Submission of final report accepted by UNICEF
Final Power Point Presentation |
UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs is incomplete, does not meet the quality standards of both UNICEF and the Government of The Gambia, not delivered or has failed to meet deadlines. UNICEF does not provide or arrange health insurance coverage for the consultant. The Consultant will make his/her own transport arrangements (including airfares, local transportation, etc.). Obtaining entry visa to The Gambia for the team members shall be the responsibility of the Consultant. UNICEF may support if necessary.
All travel costs including daily subsistence allowances of the team members or any such expenses are the responsibility of the Consultant. The Consultant will be responsible for arranging accommodation while in The Gambia, however, UNICEF shall extend administrative/logistical support to facilitate this.
4. Supervision and Reporting Arrangements
The consultant will be supervised by and report to the UNICEF Education Specialist with briefing and debriefing to the Programme Manager PIC and the UNICEF Deputy Representative about the progress of the consultancy. The consultant will work with UNICEF and relevant Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), participating UN agencies and Cooperating Partners, as well as other intervention stakeholders, including beneficiaries.
As part of quality assurance mechanism and ensure ownership, a reference group comprising of Government and UNICEF will be established to provide oversight to the study and provide comments to the deliverables.
5. Qualifications & Experience required
The Consultant must have the following qualifications:
- Master’s degree in Monitoring and Evaluation, and or an academic qualification in information technology, digital learning platform. A degree or certicate in Education is a plus.
- Demonstrated expertise of with at least 8 years experience in qualitative research methods and experiences in conducting similar pieces of assignment.
- Experience working with UNICEF and or other UN agencies will be an advantage
- Excellent communication and interview skills
- Excellent report writing and organization skills
- Proficiency in English Language as all deliverables will be presented in Englist language.
- Demonstrated ability to deliver quality results within strict deadlines, through a proven track record.
6. Intellectual property rights
UNICEF retains the right to patent and intellectual rights, as well as copyright and other similar intellectual property rights to the survey protocols and tools, discoveries, inventions, production or works arising from the consultancy. Neither the Consultant/consultancy firm nor its personnel shall communicate to any other person or entity any confidential information made known to it by UNICEF in the course of the performance of its obligations under the terms of this Agreement nor shall it use this information for private or company advantage. This provision shall survive the expiration or termination of this Agreement. The right to reproduce or use materials shall be transferred with a written approval of UNICEF based on the consideration of each separate case.
7. How to apply
UNICEF accepts applications from individual contractors. The Selection Committee will review applications and make a final decision of a successful application based on a review of the quality of the Technical Proposal (70%), the Financial Proposal (30%). An interview with potential candidates will be held as the final stage of the selection process.
All applications should contain the following documents:
- Technical Project Proposal, which would include at least:
- Statement of how to address each of the key issues/questions of the consutancy assignment;
- Conceptual framework of the methodologies to be used
- Consultant’s profile/portfolio
- Proposed timeframes (days/weeks)
- Names and contact details of reference persons.
- List of publications or analytical reports (if applicable)
- Any other additional information to support the application (optional).
- Financial Proposal:
Detailed budget breakdown (in US Dollars).
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.
Deadline: 16 Jul 2023 Greenwich Standard Time