Consultant, Equity and Educatin Analyst
Equity and Education Analyst Analyzing Bottlenecks and Barriers and Costing Strategies
TERMS OF REFERENCE
- Background:
Many of the children who are not attending school today are in developing countries and are from marginalized groups – poor, in particular locations, girls, and minorities. There has been increasing evidence on the extent of education exclusion, and ways to address the barriers and bottleneck as well as approximate costs for reaching these children. However, such evidence is still weak and not available in a systematic form. To this end UNICEF has been undertaking efforts to analyze the bottlenecks and barriers that constrain equitable access and outcomes in education, as part of a broader Education and Equity strategy. One modeling approach that is currently being undertaken by UNICEF is an adaptation of the Marginal Budgeting and Bottlenecks (MBB) used in health – which focuses on the effects of removing constraints. This is being done in collaboration between the UNICEF West Africa Regional Office (WCARO) and Headquarters.
Additionally, UNICEF and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) are undertaking a joint Global Initiative on Out-of-School Children. The OOSC Initiative introduces a new approach for analyzing the problem of OOSC through Five Dimensions of Exclusion (5DE) that capture excluded children from pre-primary to lower secondary school age across a range of disparities and degrees of exposure to education. It supports a more systematic linkage and between (i) profiles of excluded children and complexity of the problem and magnitude, inequalities and multiple disparities (ii) barriers and bottlenecks to clarify dynamic and causal processes (iii) policies and strategies to address the 5DE-related barriers and bottlenecks within education and beyond, especially as related to social protection systems.
A third stream of work involves collaboration with the World Bank on reviewing and assessing other models that may be used for analyzing bottlenecks and barriers in education, and identification and costing of appropriate strategies.
Expected results: (measurable results) Under the supervision of the Senior Advisor (Evidence and Advocacy Hub), the consultancy will result in: (i) A more robust Bottleneck Analysis Tool adapted for the education sector; (ii) Key statements on closing the gap in education; (iii) Improved Education section capacity to support countries in identifying barriers to equitable access to quality education and to implement appropriate cost beneficial strategies to address such barriers. Activities (i) Provide a critical synthesis of different issues raised with regard to bottleneck analyses and equity during the Education Extended Team Meeting (September 5-9). (ii) Review Bottleneck Analysis methodologies and adaptation from an education perspective and provide input on alignment with overall Education and Equity Strategy. (iii) Interface with the World Bank as part of UNICEF’s team on equity to assess different models for bottleneck analysis and costing, and provide recommendations for UNICEF on utility of different models (iv) Develop selected statements on “closing the gap” in education based on projections. The statements will include a synthesis of evidence on effective interventions and unit costs of interventions (or best estimate). (v) Liaise with the WCARO on costing of effective combination of program strategies to address barriers .
Start date: 22 August 2011 End date: 31 December 2011
Cost and Timeframe: The consultant will work remotely with occasional travel to New York, Washington and selected country and regional offices. 80 days between 22 August 2011 and 31 December 2011, executed from a location with good internet connectivity and within Eastern Standard Time.
The consultancy will include a minimum of four face-to-face meetings: 1) an initial face-to-face meeting in UNICEF NYHQ to discuss the Terms of Reference, plans, ideas; 2) the second meeting will include attendance at the Extended Team Meeting in September, 2011; and 3 and 4) Report back and progress updates.
Schedule Travel to New York and Washington (at least I trip) and to WCARO to be determined.
Consultant will be paid at the end of each month – upon receipt of an invoice.
Deliverables Duration (Estimated # of days) Deadline Amount payable (US$) breakdown Facilitation and Synthesis of issues related to bottleneck analyses in Education Extended Team Meeting 15 September 20, 2011
A more robust Bottleneck Analysis Tool adapted for the education sector 20 October 25, 2011
Key statement (s) on closing the gap in education including a synthesis of evidence on effective interventions and the unit costs of those interventions (or best estimate) 20 November 31, 2011
Costing of strategies to address barriers 20 December 31, 2011
TOTAL 75
- Key competences, technical background, and experience required: a) The consultant should have a Master’s Degree (Ph. d. or equivalent preferred) in education, economics, statistics or related field. b) Specific expertise/training in modelling and statistical analysis including in costing of strategies to address education barriers c) At least ten years of experience on issues of international education with familiarity with equity issues in the fields of education d) Strong written and verbal communication skills; organized and able to present ideas in a concise and logical format including proven ability to summarize lengthy and complex information into short and simple language. e) Fluency in English f) How to Apply:
Qualified candidates are requested to submit a cover letter, CV and signed P11 form (which can be downloaded from our website at http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/index_53129.html) to pdconsultants@unicef.org with subject line “Consultant, Equity and Education” by 3rd August. Please indicate your availability and daily rate to undertake the terms of reference above. Applications submitted without a daily rate will not be considered.
Post a Comment