Location: Kaduna State
Duration: Fixed Term: 1 year with the possibility of renewal subject to donor funding
Reports to: TaRL Country Manager
Role Purpose
Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) Africa seeks a State Team Lead to oversee the implementation of the TaRL activities in Kaduna State. The programme is an accelerated learning intervention, derived from core TaRL principles, aimed at improving foundational literacy and numeracy skills. The State Lead will be required to have a holistic view of all the components of the programme ensuring that these components are well managed, aligned with evidence, and apply lessons learned. The role involves working with the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), State Ministry of Education and TaRL Africa. The State Lead is responsible for providing technical and managerial direction for the successful implementation of TaRL activities. He/she must build and maintain effective relationships with all people involved in the intervention, from senior government officials to international partners and all team members.
The jobholder will report to the TaRL Nigeria Country Manager and will manage a team of TaRL Africa staff working on the different components of the project in the state. The role will involve travel within the state, as well as infrequent travel elsewhere in Nigeria.
About Teaching at the right level Africa
TaRL Africa is a newly formalised partnership between Education NGO, Pratham, and research centre J-PAL, who have been working together developing cost-effective, scalable literacy and numeracy interventions for more than 15 years. The fruits of these efforts have been the development of what we now refer to as the TaRL.
The TaRL approach, pioneered by Pratham, helps children develop basic reading and numeracy skills. In TaRL classroom: children are assessed on basic reading and numeracy using a simple tool; grouped by learning level, rather than by grade, for a dedicated time when they focus on building foundational skills through activities and materials appropriate for each group. As children progress, they move to the next learning group and continue to grow.
Main responsibilities
Become a Teaching at the Right Level expert
- Become an expert on the Teaching at the Right Level methodology and evidence base, by reading the relevant academic papers and learning from the Pratham and J-PAL teams across the world.
- Support the development of instructional content for literacy and numeracy
- Be an active member of and contributor to the TaRL Africa team which is thinking about how to adapt the TaRL approach to multiple settings across the continent, ensure that best practices are being applied in Bauchi State
- Work with policymakers and partners in the country to build their understanding of Teaching at the Right Level and ensure that lessons learned and evidence is being applied so that the programme remains effective as it moves to scale.
- Guide the implementation of the training, coaching, and monitoring systems being used in the intervention, and work with all partners to adapt and improve these so that they effectively support the classroom methodology.
Provide technical project management
- Take responsibility for achieving the goals of the programme.
- Work closely with the Team members to ensure that the programme is on track and is effectively moving towards its goals.
- Manage the Numeracy and Hausa Leads as well as the Monitoring and Measurement lead who support the government and collaborate closely with the TaRL Africa central team that is based in countries all over the world.
- Maintain critical relationships with government and other partners, and ensure the work with the SUBEB, Ministry of Education and other partners on the programme is coordinated.
- Think creatively and carefully with SUBEB, the programme team, TaRL Africa and other partners about how to improve the TaRL approach in the country such that it can be effectively and efficiently scaled and embedded within government and apply these strategies.
- Work with the finance team to submit regular financial reports to funders.
- Report on progress of the programme to the Steering Committee, TaRL Africa team and to external partners
- Contribute to the documentation of measures of the project’s Value for Money
Manage the state programme team
* Manage the Content Associates and the Monitoring and Measurement lead who supports the government and collaborate closely with the TaRL Africa central team that is based in countries all over the world
- Provide oversight and direction for the team members
- Set team goals and priorities regularly and manage work plans
- Work closely with the Team members to ensure that the programme is on track and is effectively moving towards its goals
- Foster a cohesive, creative and comfortable working environment while keeping team members motivated
- Supervise, train and coach team members and provide regular effective feedback
Support capacity-building of instructors and mentors:
- Work with appropriate government officials and TaRL Content Team colleagues to design, organise and support/lead training/workshops.
- Support teachers and mentors to deliver effective numeracy and Hausa language instruction, including support with lesson planning and producing tailored teaching and learning resources
- Provide quality assurance of training and mentoring of teachers and student teachers by Master Trainers and Teacher Trainer/Mentors.
Understand the local context
- Understand the education sector in Nigeria, including key partners, and make sure that the programme is coordinated with other actors and interventions.
- Ensure that the design and processes of the programme are well contextualised and can be sustained by government and community actors sustainably
Work with Bauchi state government to plan for scale and sustainability
- Assist government in financial planning for the programme scale-up
- Provide technical assistance to SUBEB and the Ministry of Education to effectively plan for programme growth
- Work with the government and other state development partners to build and track financial models to create a clear understanding of budget requirements and options for managing and reducing costs per beneficiary over time.
- Support the relevant government officials to identify financial support for programme, such as UBEC funding and incorporate this into budget processes.
- Engage with relevant institutions on how the programme could be institutionalised.
Facilitate state to state learning
- Coordinate learning journeys for surrounding states
Education and Qualifications
- Experience working in Northern Nigeria
- A postgraduate degree in Social Sciences, Development studies, Education or a related field
- A minimum of seven years’ experience working in similar positions
- Good command of written and spoken English
- Advantageous
- Strong preference for Kaduna State resident
- Language skills: Hausa