National Consultant to Review the National Minimum Standards for Early Child Care Centres in Nigeria at UNICEF

Job No: 561121

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Scope of Work:

• The overall scope of work of the consultancy will be to support the Federal Ministry of Education in reviewing and updating the Minimum standards for Early Childhood Care, Development, and Education (ECCDE) centers in Nigeria and corresponding implementation guidelines.

Under the supervision of an Education Specialist, the consultant will be responsible for the following over the course of the 6-months contract:

• Review the current national minimum standards for ECCDE centers: Conduct a desk review and a series of Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)/Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with the relevant stakeholders. These include but not limited to the ECD Directors and desk officers at FME, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEBs) and State Ministries of Education (SMoE), ECD desk officers and Directors from the various line ministries (Health, Women Affairs, Water resources), teachers and caregivers (from private and public providers), parents and community members, Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs). The analytical points and research questions to be addressed in the review include, but are not limited to:
• To what extent are the minimum standards aligned with national and international evidence of best practices for early learning and development standards (including principles such as the early identification of children with disabilities and early intervention, nurturing care, and other key frameworks and theories for early childhood education)?
• To what extent are the minimum standards inclusive and focused on reaching the most marginalized children in Nigeria (including specific population groups such as children with disabilities, children from the poorest families, children in conflict-affected communities and on the move, etc.)?
  • To what extent are the minimum standards relevant to state and local contexts?
  • To what extent are the minimum standards reflective of existing evidence that points towards a strong focus on teacher/child interactions and developmentally appropriate curricula?
  • To what extent are the minimum standards reflective of the child’s holistic development?
  • To what extent do the minimum standards demonstrate clear alignment of quality service standards with staff and curricular standards?
  • To what extent are the minimum standards contextualized to meet the specific needs of children within their immediate environment?
  • To what extent do the minimum standards focus on the progressive realization of children’s rights in early childhood (namely through the principle of progressive universalism)?
  • To what extent do the current standards address the responsibilities of key actors to ensure its implementation, and are effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms and processes in place and operational to support this?
  • To what extent have the standard’s guide been followed by private and public ECCDE providers and what are the key enablers of and barriers to this?
  • What are remaining gaps and key challenges undermining the full application of the existing minimum standards and recommendations?
  • What innovative approaches should be employed and to what extent can these appropriately aligned with the minimum standards priorities and in support of their achievement?
• Define what minimum standards mean in the various categories of ECCDE settings (for ages 0-2 years; 3-4 years and 3-5 years; they may be home based, centre based, or mobile) in Nigeria - considering the process and structural quality.
• Develop first draft of the revised National Minimum Standards for ECCDE and implementation guidelines: The consultant will edit and revise the current minimum standards to include key recommendations across content and approaches based directly on the review conducted, paying particular attention to cross-cutting issues including gender, inclusion and use of technology. The consultant will participate in consultations with the Steering committee, ECE national working group (NWG) and other relevant stakeholders across the geopolitical zones including but not limited to ECD stakeholders, parents and teachers, school leaders and community leaders to agree beforehand on the structure of the document and to facilitate a review of the draft by the Steering committee to gather and document the feedback.
• Develop a second draft of the standards: Based on the feedback provided in the first draft, revise and develop a second draft of the standards. The consultant will be expected to present the drafts to all stakeholders for national level critique.
• Final policy document, implementation guidelines and slide deck: Based on the feedback received on the second draft, finalize the documents for submission and share a well curated and formatted slide deck on the minimum standards and the implementation guidelines. These will be finalized with endorsement from the steering committee and ECE NWG.
• Validation: The consultant will be expected to deliver a presentation and actively participate in a national workshop for the dissemination of the revised ECCDE minimum standards.
• Knowledge management: The consultant will be expected to create an online shared folder of all documents reviewed, minutes of consultations, and the draft and final versions of all deliverables and share them with UNICEF.

Requirements
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have:

• An Advanced University Degree (Master’s or higher) in  Primary and / or Secondary Education / Pedagogy, Education Development, Education Policy, Social Policy, International Relations, or a related field is required.
• A minimum of 10 years of experience in Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Education research, evaluation, and implementation and education policy is required.
• Expert level technical knowledge about Early Childhood Development and Education, with demonstrated technical work experience in early learning provision, pedagogy, and curriculum.
• Deep familiarity and understanding of ECCDE context and culture in developing contexts, especially sub-Saharan Africa. Strong knowledge of the Nigerian (or at least other developing countries) context and understanding of international development issues, including the status of the humanitarian-development nexus nationally and at the state level in Nigeria, particularly as it relates to education for girls and marginalized populations.
• Fluency in English is required.

Other Skills and Attributes:

• Working in or as a direct consultant for UN organizations is considered an asset
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English, with experience translating evidence for and communicating with a broad range of actors (including the government) on sensitive issues
• Ability to present ideas concisely for diverse audiences and to give practical, actionable advice grounded in evidence