Afghanistan Early Childhood Development (ECD) Advisor
The Technical Advice and Support (TAS) Team within AKF Education provides specialist professional educational advice and support in programmatically relevant areas such as policy, management and leadership, teacher capacity building, teaching and learning, adult education and Early Childhood Development. The Early Childhood Development (ECD) Advisor is a key member of the TAS team, responsible for providing advice and support, internally and externally, on AKF’s ECD programme. S/he will be based in Kabul and report directly to the TAS Manager. S/he will work with the regional TAS Teams, national TAS Team and other members in Education in order to ensure the development and delivery of a high quality, contextually relevant and sustainable ECD programme. AKF’s ECD programme currently supports 73 Community-Based Pre-schools accommodating over 1,200 4-6 year olds per year and a package of parenting courses aimed at developing family and community knowledge and skills in relevant themes. At present, the Education sector operates in four provinces in central and north-east Afghanistan (Bamyan, Parwan, Baghlan and Badakhshan). S/he will be expected to make frequent visits to the areas of AKF activity in order to support programme delivery.
Main Duties and Responsibilities: • Providing Technical Advice and Support-internally: After assessing the existing ECD materials, pre-school design, staff capacity and programmatic needs, work in consultation with the TAS Manager and regional management teams to provide strategic direction, suggestions, advice and leadership for the programme in line with AKF strategy, values and commitments. • Providing Technical Advice and Support-externally: As required, participate in meetings, forum, conferences and working groups with Afghan Ministry of Education partners in order to share experiences, knowledge and, when practical, advice for the development of ECD programme and policies within Afghanistan. • Representation: As required, represent AKF Education in meetings with other AKDN Agencies, Afghan NGOs, INGOs and other relevant stakeholders in matters relating to ECD.
• Programme Effectiveness: In addition to introducing initiatives to strengthen current programme delivery and effectiveness, develop innovative and creative ideas to strengthen, expand and sustain programme impact • Programme Delivery – Planning and Implementation: In order to ensure realistic understanding of how the programme is being implemented and the challenges faced, regularly visit pre-schools and parenting classes to monitor and support AKF staff, pre-school teachers and communities. • Staff Development: Through a combination of training courses, mentoring, coaching and other relevant development opportunities, build the technical, management and communication skills of the regional ECD TAS Officers. This will enable them to identify, support and develop strategies and activities to strengthen the ECD programme within their respective region, working through a team of School Community Educators liaising directly with pre-school teachers and communities. • Resource Management: Assist in the identification and selection of appropriate technical supplies and equipment for the ECD programme (e.g., teaching and learning materials and resources). • Reports and Communication: In addition to ensuring full and ongoing communication with the TAS manager, provide him/her regular written reports on problems being faced, ideas being recommended and general progress and impact of the programme. As part of the TAS Team, take part in regular team meetings to share ideas, concerns and gain clear approval before implementing new ideas. When visiting regions, ensure clear communication with regional senior management. • Monitoring, Evaluation and Research: As necessary, provide support and ideas for undertaking research projects and impact studies related to ECD. When required, work with the Monitoring and ERLU teams to develop and strengthen effective tools for measuring programme impact and success.
• Collaborate with other members of the Education Team such as Advisors/Coordinators. • Provide technical advice to AKF teams in organizing/taking part in events, campaigns and conferences on ECD relevant initiatives; • By remaining up to date with research, initiatives and developments relevant to ECD, advise and update other colleagues as relevant. Administration: • Provide regular reports to National Program Office Technical: • Responsible for evaluating and providing feedback to senior regional management Logistical • Ensure appropriate selection of the ECD materials.
Required Qualifications and Experience: • Masters Degree in Education (preferably in Early Childhood Development) • Minimum of 5 years’ experience as a practitioner in Early Childhood Education. • Minimum of 3 years’ experience in managing the implementation of education-related projects, preferably in a post conflict or complex region. • Proven excellent interpersonal, mentoring and team building skills, particularly working in cross-cultural contexts; • Excellent time management skills–ability to deal with multiple tasks and diverse team. • Excellent English written and spoken communication skills (Dari would also be an advantage) • Ability to make decisions and suggestions based on strong analytical and problem solving skills. • Strong and realistic planning skills with the ability and tenacity to follow a project through to completion. • Proven experience in writing training materials and designing resources. • Flexibility in responding to unexpected changes in circumstances.
Applications: Applicants meeting the above requirements are requested to submit a cover letter along with their CV no later than January 12th 2012
By e‐mail to: jobs.afghanistan@akdn.org or Through our Career Centre: http://www.akdn.org/careers
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