Back Consultancy-Support to Jordan's Ministry of Education's EMIS Technical Specialist

Parent Sector : Education Sector (ED)
Duty Station: Amman
Job Family: Education
Type of contract : Non Staff
Duration of contract :From 1 to 6 months
Recruitment open to : External candidates
Application Deadline (Midnight Paris Time) : 04-DEC-2020

Duration of contract: 6 months from date of contracting, with the possibility of extension, subject to satisfactory performance and availability of funds.

1 BACKGROUND, OBJECTIVES AND JUSTIFICATION

1.1 Project Overview

Since 2019, the UNESCO Amman Office has been implementing the “System Strengthening Partnership with Jordan’s Ministry of Education” (SSP) programme, with the generous support from the Government of Canada, Norway (through NORCAP) and Italy. The SSP aims to support the Ministry of Education (MoE) in strengthening evidence-based strategic policy-making, and coordination at the MoE. Through the 3-year programme, UNESCO aims to strengthen the core functions of the MoE in planning and budgeting, monitoring and reporting, research and evaluation, data and information management, and coordination and partnership. In addition, technical support is provided to the MoE in areas of data collection, analysis and utilization by reinforcing the MoE’s capacity to maintain, manage and utilize the OpenEMIS platform.

The SSP builds on UNESCO Amman’s previous technical support to the MoE to develop, launch and begin implementing the Education Strategic Plan (ESP) 2018-2022. In addition, the programme also builds on UNESCO’s ongoing support for the development of OpenEMIS, and the 2014-2017 EU-funded programme which launched OpenEMIS in Jordan.

1.2 Strategic Relevance

The first phase of OpenEMIS was completed in 2017, when phase I of OpenEMIS was adapted and customized to the Jordanian educational system, according to the requirements of the Ministry of Education. In January 2019, a comprehensive assessment of Jordan’s OpenEMIS was commissioned by UNESCO. Building on the recommendations and lessons learnt from the assessment, the outcomes led to the development of an EMIS roadmap, detailing further key requirements for OpenEMIS, and informing the development of the MoE EMIS Operational Plan (Phase II). It is now important to establish the enabling environment for EMIS rapidly to support the development and effective operation of OpenEMIS. This includes UNESCO support to the MoE in developing their EMIS Policy, covering the organizational structure and institutional processes, as well as the reactivation of the EMIS Technical Committee to improve the internal management and coordination of EMIS.

2. PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

As part of its SSP programme, UNESCO is seeking to enhance its provision of technical assistance to the MoE, to further develop their capacities to improve the enabling environment of EMIS (including policy framework, governance, resource allocation) and implement their EMIS Operational Workplan successfully.

The expected results of the assignment, through UNESCO’s technical assistance to the MoE, and within the System Strengthening Partnership (SSP) programme, are:

• The reactivation of the EMIS Technical Committee.
• The finalization, endorsement, and operationalization of MoE’s EMIS Policy, which is currently under development by the MoE
• The implementation of MoE’s EMIS Operational Plan with specific focus on the areas of quality assurance, IT infrastructure, and knowledge-management.
• The enhancement of MoE capacity in maintaining, managing and utilizing EMIS.

3. DUTIES/TASKS AND EXPECTED OUTPUT:

The EMIS Technical Specialist will be responsible for carrying out the following tasks and responsibilities in support of:

1) Coordination:

a. Provide technical, coordination and organizational support to the reactivation of the MoE’s EMIS Technical Committee that is responsible for overseeing, guiding and advising on the administration and management of OpenEMIS in Jordan. This includes, but is not limited to, the coordination of inputs to key strategic documents such as the EMIS policy, and the application of software development standard operating procedures (SoPs) in decision-making.

2) Policy Advice:

a. Provide technical support in the finalization, endorsement and operationalization of the EMIS policy to fully institutionalize EMIS functioning within MoE.

b. Provide technical assistance in developing a sustainable maintenance strategy, including a Disaster Recovery Plan, as per the EMIS Policy.

3) Technical assistance and capacity development:

a. Provide the necessary IT technical advice to further develop the capacities of the MoE’s management of the EMIS platform (from both a hardware and software perspective).

b. Provide technical assistance to support the implementation of the MoE EMIS Operational Workplan. This includes support in:

• Updating and institutionalizing the EMIS Operational Manual
• Assist the MoE in their design, content, organization, and delivery of capacity development activities, resources and tools, including, but not limited to, training and rolling out the new features of EMIS to the relevant MoE units at central and decentralized levels.
• Support the technical analysis of data integration with different existing internal or external database sources and recommend feasible, sustainable, and cost-effective solutions.

Expected deliverables:

6 technical reports submitted to UNESCO Amman Office (31 January, 28 February, 31 March, 30 April, 31 May, and 30 June 2021) including status progress, results, and lessons learnt on the following:

i. Establishment and activities of EMIS Technical Committee

ii. EMIS policy finalization, endorsement and operationalization

iii. Capacity building, including approach and activities provided and implemented

iv. Technical assistance provided to MoE, in accordance with MoE EMIS Operational Workplan, and for the OpenEMIS platform infrastructure (software and hardware).

The final technical report will also include a final summary of the assignment, as well as recommendations for next steps.

4. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

A. Education:

• Advanced University degree (Master or equivalent) in computer information sciences, education, international development, computer engineering, information technology, data science or data management, or a related field.

B. Professional Experience

• Over 10 years of experience in management of IT projects, and/or specifically of EMIS or related educational database projects in large international settings/organizations,
• Experience in the development and successful roll out of IT systems, preferably in relation to education sector; and in managing a significant transformation process or change management initiative that helped to structurally improve the EMIS.

C. Language Skills

• The language of submitted reports/materials for the assignment is English.
• Excellent knowledge (written and spoken) of both English and Arabic is essential.

D. Competencies / Inter-personal skills

• Technical expertise in the field of education, with a focus on education statistics, monitoring, evaluation and reporting, Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) and/or institutional system strengthening and capacity development.
• Proven experience in all phases of the software development cycle.
• Good command on the programming languages (MySQL, PHP) and Linux operating system.
• Proven experience with Generic and Open Source Education Management Information Systems.
• Proven experience in developing content management systems.
• Strong analytical skills including the ability to analyse education sector data and contribute to programme and project implementation.
• Strong commitment and proven ability to improve education information management systems through knowledge transfer, effective collaboration, and a strong capacity development approach.
• Ability to work as a team and in close collaboration with national authorities, implementing partners, consultancy firms, and/or individual specialists.
• Ability to manage multiple and simultaneous tasks, and to deliver results within a specified timetable.
• Proven good interpersonal and communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in complex operations within a multi-cultural environment.

Desirable Qualifications

A. Professional Experience

• 2 years working in the field of education, and/or computer information sciences at the international level is an asset.
• Previous experience in the field of education, with a focus on educational planning and policy, education statistics, monitoring, evaluation and reporting, Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) and/or institutional system strengthening, capacity development and change management.
• Previous experience providing technical support to governments for the design and development of education indicators, for data analysis and statistics, and for using national Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) or related educational databases for education planning, monitoring and reporting is an asset.
• Previous experience working within the UN system including familiarity with its administrative and procurement systems and processes is an asset.

6. SUPERVISORY ARRANGEMENTS

The EMIS Technical Specialist will be under the overall authority of the Head of the UNESCO Amman Office, and will receive guidance on the day-to-day execution of functions within the Education Sector from the Head of Education Unit and the Project Officer for the System Strengthening Programme.

The EMIS technical specialist will be directly supervised by the Project Officer responsible for overseeing the successful implementation of the “System Strengthening Partnership with Jordan’s Ministry of Education”.

The EMIS Technical Specialist will be based in the UNESCO Amman Office.

7. SECURITY CERTIFICATES

The Technical Specialist is required to successfully complete UNESCO’s security awareness training [UNDSS online BSAFE course]. The certificate must be attached to the draft Individual Consultant contract and shared with the UNESCO Amman Office Human Resources Unit with a copy of the signed contract