Individual Consultant (UNICEF)

Job Description

Title: Support of the Open Digital Library Resource pilot in Soc Trang province

Location: Soc Trang, Viet Nam

Duration: 9 October to 15 December 2023

Start Date: 9 October 2023

Reporting to: Chief Of Education

Project and activity codes: 5200/A0/06/882/001

Deadline for submission: before 23:55 on 4 October 2023 – Viet Nam time.

Background

Major progress has been made towards increasing pre-school and primary school enrolment rates in Viet Nam. Still, many children and adolescents nationwide are unable to read, or are lacking other literacy skills including vocabulary, spelling, and comprehension even though most of them have attended school for several years. One reason for this is that many do not have access to quality, early grade reading resources in a language they understand.

According to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 6 (MICS6), only 26.2 per cent of children aged 0-59 months live in households where at least three children’s books were present. The proportion of children with 10 or more books declines to just 13.0 per cent. The three regions with very low percentages of children living in households with 10 or more books for children are the Central Highlands (6.0 per cent), Northern Midlands and Mountainous area (7.3 per cent) and Mekong River Delta (6.6 per cent). Additionally, despite the government’s efforts to create an inclusive education system and learning environment, children with disabilities still have limited access to schools and inclusive learning resources. There is persistent stigma and discrimination against children with disabilities largely due to a lack of understanding or misunderstanding within the society about the abilities of these children.

UNICEF Viet Nam, therefore, has collaborated with the Vietnamese Institution of Educational Sciences (VNIES) and the Global Digital Library (GDL) to provide access to Open, high quality, digital early grade reading books and reading resources in Vietnamese and 8 “underserved” Ethnic Minority languages: Bahnar, Cham, Ede, Jrai, Khmer, Mong, Mnong, Thai, as well as sign language. This collaboration has already realized the adaptation and localization of the resource platform and contributed more than 1400 new digital resources to the current library of GDL (with 6000+ books in 72 languages). Among these are the ten newly-created books that portray children from various ethnic groups and children with disabilities in positive roles and characters.

The platform is open and free to everyone. Through this collaboration, we aim to reach children, their caregivers, and other users including the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), Departments of Education and Training (DOETs), school managers, teachers, international and national non-governmental organizations, local publishers, digital distributors, public libraries, and content providers.

UNICEF Viet Nam plans to conduct a test launch of the high-quality Open Digital Library Resources in Vietnamese and ethnic languages by first demonstrating them to students at three schools in Soc Trang. This project also aims to provide teachers with hands-on training on how to integrate digital resources into their classroom-level teaching, including the use of ethnic mother tongues. Furthermore, the project aims to provide refresher training and technical assistant to previously trained teachers to ensure their knowledge/skills and application in the class.

Justification

The assignment requires specialized technical skills and engaging with stakeholders at the local levels, including local authorities, children and teachers. In addition, experience in designing and developing hands-on training programs for teachers, as well as experience in developing digital teaching and learning resources and providing technical assistant in Vietnamese language would be important. Thus, a national consultant is required for this assignment.

Purpose and Objectives

The overall objective of the assignment is to: provide teachers with hands-on training on how to integrate digital resources into their classroom-level teaching, including the use of ethnic mother tongues. Furthermore, to provide further technical assistance and refresher training to trained teachers to ensure their knowledge/skills and application in the classroom.

More specifically, the consultant will:

Implement a hands-on teacher training on how to integrate digital resources into their teaching, including the use of ethnic mother tongues at 3 schools in Soc Trang
Implement refresher training and provide further technical assistant to previously-trained teachers to ensure their knowledge/skills and application in the class.
Provide a report together with full documentation (training materials and key teacher guidance) and lessons learned/recommendations for further improvement of current digital resources for expanded or wider application during the next phase of the Open Digital Library.

Specific Tasks / Expected Deliverables

Task	Deliverable	Time Frame (no of days)
1. Develop the consultancy plan including the methodology for the assignment	Deliverable 1 The detailed plan is approved by UNICEF and Soc Trang DOET	Approximately 1 day
2. Develop hands-on training program and key guidance for teachers	Deliverable 2 Availability of training materials and guidance	Approximately 2 days Final products submitted on 15 October 2023
3. Organize hands-on training including role play for teachers at 3 schools in Soc Trang	Deliverable 3 Availability of a detailed plan and schedule for the teacher training, outlining the activities, sessions and resources needed.	Approximately 3 days Final products submitted on 30 Oct 2023
4. Provide technical assistant to teachers of 3 schools during piloting	Deliverable 4 Availability of documentation and report of technical assistant	Approximately 5 days 30 Nov 2023
5. Provide a report including briefing together with full documentation (training materials and key teacher guidance) and lessons learned/recommendations for further improvement of current digital resources widely application for the next phase of the Open Digital Library	Deliverable 5 Availability of a report summarizing the activities and feedback and recommendations for future improvements, accessing the impact of the activities on children and teachers	Approximately 3 days Final products submitted on 15 Dec 2023
TOTAL	14

Payment Schedule linked to Deliverables

Payment will be made upon completing all deliverables.

Management and Reporting

The national consultant will be working under the supervision of the Chief of Education.. The UNICEF Education Officer (Inclusion) will be assigned as the focal point for the consultancy, work with the consultant in all aspects of the assignment, and provide technical inputs and support as needed.

Performance indicators for evaluation

The quality of deliverables meets the standards set by UNICEF and specifications outlined in the contract.
Deliverables are submitted timely as indicated in the contract.
Technical assistance delivered in a contextualized and tactful manner, drawing on the inputs from the partners.
Performance evaluation will be completed at the end of the assignment.

Qualification/Specialized Knowledge and Experience

An advanced degree in fields related to language, education.
Over 05 - 10 years of experience in in designing and developing language training programs for teachers.
At least 1 year of experience in designing and developing digital learning resources
Strong data processing, excel and statistical analysis.
Good knowledge and understanding of the education system in Viet Nam, with a focus on preschool and primary education, as well as experience working with children with disabilities.
Good listening skills as well as written and communication skills in English and Vietnamese.
Excellent teamwork skills.

Technical Evaluation (70%)	100 points
An advanced degree in fields related to language and education.	30
Over 05-10 years of experience in designing and developing language teachers training programs. Experience in designing and developing digital learning resources is an advantage.	40
Good knowledge and understanding of the education system in Viet Nam, with a focus on preschool and primary education, as well as experience working with children with disabilities.	30
Financial evaluation (30%)	100 points

The passing score for the technical assessment is 50%.

The Contract shall be awarded to the candidate obtaining the highest technical and financial scores.

Child Safeguarding

Is this project/assignment considered as “Elevated Risk Role” from a child safeguarding perspective?

YES NO If YES, check all that apply:

Direct contact role YES – 3 days – will be supervised by Inclusion Education Officer of UNICEF NO
If yes, please indicate the number of hours/months of direct interpersonal contact with children, or work in their immediately physical proximity, with limited supervision by a more senior member of personnel:

Submission of applications

Interested candidates are kindly requested to apply and upload the following documents to the assigned requisition in UNICEF Vacancies: http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/

Letter of interest and confirmation of availability;

Performance evaluation reports or references of similar consultancy assignments (if available)

Financial proposal: interested candidates are requested to send a financial proposal for this assigment.

CV/P11 form (UN Personal History Form)

General Conditions:

The following general conditions shall apply. The consultant shall:

Workstation: home-based
Official travel within the country: Soc Trang

Policy both parties should be aware of:

Consultants are not entitled to payment of overtime. All remuneration must be within the contract agreement.
No contract may commence unless the contract is signed by both UNICEF and the consultant or Contractor.
Consultants will not have supervisory responsibilities or authority on UNICEF budget.

Please consult with HR on entitlements if you have any queries.

How to Apply

UNICEF Vietnam is seeking for a consultancy service to provide Support for the Open Digital Library Resource pilot in Soc Trang province. Please refer to the attached TOR for more details.

Interested candidates are kindly requested to apply and upload the following documents to the assigned requisition in UNICEF Vacancies: http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/

Letter of interest and confirmation of availability;
Performance evaluation reports or references of similar consultancy assignments (if available)
Financial proposal: interested candidates are requested to send a financial proposal for this assigment.
CV/P11 form (UN Personal History Form)

Deadlines for submission: before 23:55 on 4 October 2023 – Viet Nam time.