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Background

In Abkhazia, Georgia the education system has suffered from degradation over the last 25 years as a result of the protracted conflict and isolation of the region. The education system is heavily underfunded due to the lack of financial resources, resulting in a persistent lack of teaching materials, teacher training, and dilapidated school infrastructure. Also, over the last 25 years there have been no systematic attempt to reform the education system. Consequently, the quality of education is low and international assistance to improve education services is urgently needed. At the same time, information on school attendance, drop-out rates and student learning outcomes are not publicly available, making evidence-based programming difficult.

The unresolved and protracted political conflict further complicates the situation. The existing education system in Abkhazia only partially reflects the existing linguistic division of Abkhazia's population; education in Abkhazia in various ways perpetuates mistrust and resentment between the region's various ethnic communities and does not contribute to peacebuilding. The resentment is felt particularly strongly in the sphere of mother tongue education and has the potential to cause new tensions between the divided communities. Children of different ethno-linguistic communities in Abkhazia today have very different chances to study in their mother tongue and children of each ethnic community face specific challenges.

To address the educational needs of all children in Abkhazia, UNICEF aims to assist the de facto authorities and local communities in improving the quality of education services by promoting a systematic approach to mother tongue based multilingual education (MTB MLE) irrespective of their ethnic background and place of residence. Since 2015, UNICEF has carried out a series of targeted activities to improve the quality of general education and access to quality mother tongue education which included the development of an MTB MLE model. UNICEF, together with international education experts, also initiated a series of teacher trainings on Student-Centered Instruction and Life Skills for teachers and school administrators and has worked to develop pre-service and in-service training programmes for teachers to support the introduction of these methodologies and practices.

8 teacher resource centers (TRCs) have also been developed at the district level in Abkhazia and these serve as local training centers for teachers, school administrators and other stakeholders. UNICEF has worked to develop a core group of teachers in each center who could provide the training to other teachers and act as local champions of new teaching methodologies as well as the MTB MLE model.

In the next phase of activities UNICEF will continue by supporting additional trainings for teachers and local education experts by building capacity of local teachers through the TRCs and by further developing teacher training programmes. Trainings on SCI and other contemporary student-centered approaches will continue. Additional support will be provided to conduct trainings for language and subject teachers on Content Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). UNICEF also plans to expose future teachers/students to contemporary teaching approaches, through trainings on SCI, CLIL and other relevant areas.

UNICEF is therefore planning to recruit a consultant to provide technical and expert assistance to its Sukhumi Field Office in Abkhazia in the above-mentioned areas.

Objective

The objective of the consultancy is to provide UNICEF Georgia's Sukhumi Field Office and its partners with advice and technical assistance in the process of improving quality education services in Abkhazia, with a focus on in-service and pre-service training for teachers and teachers of pre-school institutions, the further introduction of student-centered instruction (SCI), capacity building of local trainers and CLIL methodology introduction, as well as specifically improving mother tongue and second language teaching.

Scope of work

The consultant will develop relevant training programmes for teachers at various levels that will support the tasks listed below. This will be based on international best practices and shall be localized, and it is expected that the consultants prepare all the necessary materials and provide the trainings as required.

The consultancy activities will be carried out between February 2020 and October 2020, with possible extensions as needed, and involve both, work from home, as well as frequent travel to and work in Abkhazia and Georgia. During the work from home, the consultant(s) will use email, skype and telephone for regular communication with UNICEF Georgia's Sukhumi Field Office and supervisors.

Depending on further progress in UNICEF's consultations with relevant decision makers in both Georgia and Abkhazia, as well as with interested donors, the consultancy might be extended and amended to include additional tasks and deliverables in line with those established in this TOR.

Tasks

To work with the UNICEF Sukhumi education team members to design and develop a step-by-step training programme to support the capacity building of teachers from the TRCs; To design and implement a trainings programme for teachers on CLIL and other language teaching techniques; Conduct SCI, CLIL and other practical trainings for pre-service teachers and students/future teachers from ASU; To design a training programme for pre-school teachers and institutions in line with SCI, CLIL and other student-centered methodologies; Provide expertise and advice on additional education related activities that contribute to the whole-school approach.

Deliverables and Timelines

Key Actions: Preparation and Training of local experts, teachers and University students on CLIL, SCI and other relevant language teaching components

Deliverables: Quality training programme

Delivery Period: February 2020 - September 2020

Number of Working Days: 40 days

Location: From home and in Abkhazia

Key Actions: Develop and Launch a programme to support the capacity building of teachers from the Teacher Resource Centers

Deliverables: Quality programme developed; conduction of trainings and supervision

Delivery Period: February 2020 - September 2020

Number of Working Days: 17 days

Location: From home and in Abkhazia

Key Actions: Develop and implement a pilot training program and presentations for the training of the teachers of elementary school and kindergartens

Deliverables: Quality presentations and a training program is developed

Delivery Period: February 2020 - June 2020

Number of working days: 13 days

Location: From home and in Abkhazia

TOTAL Number of Working Days: 70 days

Supervision and Reporting Responsibility:

The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Chief of UNICEF Field Office and the UNICEF Education Officer in Sukhumi.

The consultant's performance will be evaluated against the following criteria: timeliness, responsibility, initiative, communication, and quality of the products delivered.

Required qualifications:

Advanced university degree in Education; At least 10 years of work experience in the area of education, including work experience in countries of the former Soviet Union; Work experience in education in conflict-affected areas; Proven experience in teachers training on student-centered teaching methodologies and on life skills education, as well as in training teacher trainers (ToTs); Sound technical expertise and work experience of 5 years in mother tongue and multi-lingual education desirably across CEE/CIS region; Excellent English language skills and at least working knowledge of Russian language; Very good analytical and organizational skills; Very good knowledge of child's rights; Familiarity with UNICEF's work in the area of education; Excellent communication and team work skills; ability to work with minimum supervision in a multi-national environment with team members from different cultural backgrounds; Good knowledge and use of Microsoft package.

Consultancy period:

01 February 2020 - 01 September 2020

Remuneration

The consultant will be paid at a consultancy fee rate negotiated between the consultant and UNICEF Georgia, based on an initial proposal of the consultant and taking into account the consultant's level of experience and evaluations of his/her earlier work. Payment will be carried out after satisfactory fulfilment of tasks. UNICEF will also cover travel expenses which will be paid in advance of the consultants travel(s).

This vacancy is archived.

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