Kathmandu, Nepal
UNICEF, Kathmandu
Consultancy for Mapping of Inclusive Education Practices in South Asia
Job no: 528585
Position type: Consultancy
Location: Nepal Division/Equivalent: Kathmandu(ROSA)
School/Unit: Regional Services Div (SAR), Kathmandu
Department/Office: Reg Serv – Prog Section, Kathmandu
Categories: Education
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.
Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.
And we never give up.
For every child,
Globally it is estimated that a substantial proportion of children with disabilities are out of school. A paper published by a team of global experts in July 2015, under the title Towards a Disability Inclusive Educationâ, notes that of the 58 million out-of-school children at the primary level alone, an estimated one-third, or approximately 19 million children, have a disability [1]. According to the UN Flagship report on Disability and Development 2018, for countries where data is available, children with disabilities are more than twice as likely to be out of school as their peers without disabilities. The same report indicates that children with disabilities are less likely to complete primary school and as a direct consequence of this, also less likely to continue to higher levels of education and less likely to be literate than children without disabilities.
In South Asia an estimated 28 million children [2], 10 million at primary level, and 18 million at lower secondary level are out of school. Of these a considerable proportion are estimated to be children with disabilities. According to a UNESCO Information Paper [3] of March 2018, because of the scarcity of national data, it is currently not possible to generate statistics on the status of persons with disabilities with regard to education that are regionally or globally representative. This is true for the South Asia region as well and is a huge challenge. Lack of disaggregated data and research also impede the development of effective policies and programmes to promote inclusive education.
The 2018 Global Disability Summit raised the attention of world leaders to the long neglected area of disabilities. A number of South Asian governments and actors signed the Summit Charter for Change which embeds Inclusive Education as a key pillar of action, in line with the UNCRPD Article 24 that requires State Parties to ensure inclusive education systems at all levels.
In the run-up to the first anniversary of the Summit, the Faculty of Education (University of Cambridge), Humanity & Inclusion (Nepal) with support from UK DFID, Girls Education Challenge (GEC) and UNICEF Regional Office South Asia (ROSA) organized a South Asia regional knowledge sharing event Education for Children with Disabilities in South Asia through research, policy and advocacy in June 2018 in Kathmandu. This knowledge sharing event was primarily organized to foster a climate of knowledge exchange among different actors in the field of inclusive education in South Asia and explore new opportunities for developing partnerships that will be driven to focus on generating evidence to understand how to strengthen the provision of education for children with disabilities in the region.
The above event brought together 59 participants including policy makers, advocates with disabilities, academics, I/NGOs and multi-lateral aid agencies from across the South Asian Region, South Africa (as part of south-south exchange) and from the UK and the USA. The presentations and discussions at the event highlighted several promising practices on education for children with disabilities in the region. Participating countries expressed a need to understand more about policies, strategies and programmes that are working well for national progress on Inclusive Education and the need to document these good practices and make it easily available for reference and use across the region.
[1] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279717824_Towards_a_disability_inclusive_education
[2] Estimates by UNICEF ROSA based on UIS data
[3] http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/ip49-education-disability-2018-en.pdf
How can you make a difference?
The overall purpose of this consultancy is to undertake a stock-taking of inclusive education policies, strategies and practices in South Asia that have shown to be effective in catering to the educational needs of children with disabilities and have potential for scaling up. The findings of the mapping will help UNICEF and partner governments working in the area of inclusive education to strengthen their programming for education of children with disabilities based on evidence from the region.
Key Assignments/Tasks:
Develop the methodology for the mapping: The consultant will develop a methodology for the mapping and present an inception report that includes:
(i) the approach and methodology.
(ii) The framework for the mapping structured around the following areas:
The Enabling Environment
- policy and legislative framework
- the status of data on children with disabilities
- a review of sector analysis and sector plans to determine the extent to which these have included a focus on children with disabilities both at national and sub-national levels.
- financing and funding mechanisms
- leadership and management
Service Delivery
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- inclusive education work force development and teacher training
- inclusive school environment/infrastructure
- Curriculum, examinations and assessment
- Learning materials
- support services for students, parents and teachers
The Demand Side
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- Family, community engagement and partnerships
- Awareness, Attitudes and Practices
Quality
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- availability and use of standards and indicators for inclusion
- monitoring and quality assurance
(iii) Indicators of progress: Develop a range of indicators of progress (example Initiating, Developing, Establishing, Championing) against the key thematic areas of inclusive education as specified in the framework developed under (ii) above. These will then be used in writing up the country profiles on Inclusive Education for each of the eight countries in South Asia.
(iv) The criteria for selection of programmes and interventions for inclusion in the mapping. This could include:
- evidence of demonstrable results/impact also including the scale of the problem being addressed
- degree of adherence to the principles of inclusive education as outlined in the CRPD and its General Comment no
- barriers to inclusion that have been addressed
- engagement of families and communities
- potential for scale up including the gap between current practice and best practice based on evidence
- Replicability in different settings potential and actual
- Innovation in programme/project design and its implementation
The following documents may be useful for developing the methodology and conceptualizing the frame against which this mapping will be conducted.
– UNCRPD
https://www.unicef.org/eca/sites/unicef.org.eca/files/IE_summary_accessible_220917_0.pdf
https://www.right-to-education.org/sites/right-to-education.org/files/resource-attachments/CRPD_General_Comment_4_Inclusive_Education_2016_En.pdf
– Conceptualizing Inclusive Education and Contextualizing it within the UNICEF Mission.
http://www.inclusive-education.org/sites/default/files/uploads/booklets/IE_Webinar_Booklet_1_0.pdf
https://www.unicef.org/northmacedonia/media/4001/file/MK_MappingDisabilities_Report_ENG.pdf
http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/monitoring-education-participation.pdf
- SDG 4 framework
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000245656
https://www.iddcconsortium.net/sites/default/files/resources-tools/files/final_iddc_sdgs_posters.pdf
– the Washington Group website for approaches on data/identification. http://www.washingtongroup-disability.com/
– Identifying and Promoting Good Practice in Equity and Child Friendly Education: https://www.unicef.org/cfs/files/Identifying_and_Promoting_Good_Practice_in_Equity_and_Child-Friendly_Education.pdf
B. Research and Information Gathering: The consultant will gather information for the mapping through a number of approaches including:
- Desk review of various documents and studies on inclusive education in each of the countries in South Asia at both national and sub-national levels, including in refugee/emergency contexts. The countries in South Asia are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
- Survey questionnaire
- Key informant interviews with key stakeholders through skype or other media.
C. Report writing and consolidation of findings: The consultant will undertake an analysis of information collected from various sources including document review, survey questionnaires, Key Informant Interviews. Based on the analysis, the consultant will produce an overall mapping report and country profiles for each of the eight countries in South Asia. The overall report should document promising practices in inclusive education for children with disabilities, including the strengths and gaps, lessons learned, potential for sustainability, as well as potential of scaling up these initiatives. Based on the analysis the consultant will present a set of recommendations for the future design of inclusive education programmes and identify areas where further evidence building and support is needed.
The final report of the mapping and country profiles should be illustrated with appropriate graphs, visuals, table and accompanying text. The overall report should consist of:
- Executive Summary (3-4 pages)
- Introduction
- Methodology and Approach
- Promising Practices in Inclusive Education in South Asia. This section should be structured around the framework that is developed under Task A ii.
- Recommendations
- Annexes:
- Bibliography
- Finalized data collection tools
- List of interviewees with accompanying informed consent forms
The country profiles should have a similar format as the main report but will be brief. For each country profile the section on promising practices in inclusive education should be structured around the framework developed under Task A (ii) and include a rating on the progress against each of the key domains of the framework. The narrative for the country profile will then be developed against these indicators.
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will haveÂ…
A. Education:
- Advanced university degree in education, social sciences including expertise in the area of inclusive education
- Work Experience:
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- Minimum of 10 years of work experience in the field of Education or relevant social sectors.
- Previous experience in undertaking mapping or similar activity
- Previous experience of working in inclusive education and on disability issues
- Previous work in the region for UNICEF or other partners is an advantage.
- Competencies:
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- Strong research and analytical skills.
- Work effectively through e-mail and phone
- Ability to work independently
- Familiarity with the work of UNICEF and/or other similar UN organizations or development agencies working on education and improving learning environments and outcomes for children
- Good knowledge of the South Asia context including inclusive education and equity issues.
- Language Proficiency:
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- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with demonstrated ability to deliver high-quality written work in the English language.
Duration: 17 February to 31 July 2020
Note: This is a home-based consultancy, thus no travel is required. Please quote your daily rate and other cost estimates Application without daily rate, etc. will not be entertained.
The consultancy will be home-based, and no travel is required. The consultant will be expected to schedule interviews and tele-conferences including monthly calls with the Reference Group to discuss progress and get feedback on the outputs.
Note: The consultant will be paid upon satisfactory completion of assigned tasks and receipt of key deliverables and as certified by the Supervisor/Manager.
For every Child, you demonstrateÂ…
UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.
The functional competencies required for this post are…
View our competency framework at
http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/files/UNICEF_Competencies.pdf
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.
UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.
Remarks:
Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
Advertised: Dec 16 2019 Nepal Standard Time Application close: Jan 17 2020 Nepal Standard Time
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