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Parent Sector: Field Office

Duty Station: Beirut

Job Family: Education

Type of contract: Author’s contract

Duration of contract: From 1 to 2 months

Recruitment open to: External candidates

Application Deadline (Midnight Beirut Time): JUNE 7, 2021 - EXTENDED

UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism

OVERVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE POST

Background

The outbreak of COVID-19 has left more than 90% of the world student population out of school at its peak. In the case of Yemen, the COVID-19 pandemic has been and additional burden to a country that was already going through the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

When it comes to education, it is estimated that more than half of the Yemeni teachers and school personnel (65%) have not received regular salary payments since 2016; as a result, many teachers have been forced to find alternative sources of income to provide for their families. COVID-19 has further exacerbated these already tragic conditions. Similar to other contexts across the world, Yemen has responded by closing schools and postponing examinations. In addition, some schools are used as quarantine centers, further affecting the education sector.

Global school closures in response to COVID-19 pandemic present an unprecedented risk to children’s and youth’s education, protection and wellbeing. School closures pose the question of when to reopen, and how to prevent and control COVID-19 when schools re-open. As such, in April 2020 UNESCO, in cooperation with UNICEF, the World Bank and the World Food Programme, launched the ‘Framework for reopening schools’ to guide such efforts prior to, during and when re-opening take place.

While humanitarian and development partners rushed to provide immediate support in the context of the pandemic, much assistance was directed towards health, hygiene and social protection measures. Promoting safe and healthy schools, while safeguarding access to education and providing adequate guidance to school management, teachers, parents and students during these challenging times is of crucial importance.

One year after the outbreak, due to the presence of new variants and the strengthening of the pandemic, Yemen has moved towards a new round of school closures in several governorates.

For all these reasons, UNESCO is supporting the Ministry of Education to develop contextualized School Guidelines to prevent and control COVID-19 in schools, while ensuring that learning continues as much as possible.

Purpose

UNESCO is hiring a consultant with an excellent of knowledge of the Yemeni current school system to develop guidelines to policy-makers, teachers and school personnel for the prevention, detection and control of COVID-19 in schools. The guidelines aim to sharpen school administrators’, teachers’ and schooo staff’ preparedness and responsiveness on how to manage their schools while preventing, detecting and controlling the spread of COVID-19.

The guidelines will build on the Framework for reopening schools mentioned above. They will expand the provisions included in the Framework for reopening schools by providing easy and concrete detailed guidance, checklists, examples and tools to implement the Framework in Yemen. Thus, the guidance should take into consideration the specific features of school infrastructures and broader community contexts in the country.

Duties, tasks and expected outputs

Under the guidance of, and in close coordination with, UNESCO, the contractor shall develop two guidance documents allowing to operationalize the Framework for reopening schools in Yemen:

1. A guide for policy-makers, administrators of the Ministry of Education and school principals;

2. A guide for teachers and school personnel.

The documents should be written in English. The style should be simple and accessible to non-native English speakers.

UNESCO’s Style Manual should be applied (available here: ).

While developing the content, the contractor should take into account the need for the guides to be available in printing and on screen. This requires them to be user friendly, concise and practical.

COMPETENCIES (Core / Managerial)

Accountability (C)

Communication (C)

Innovation (C)

Knowledge sharing and continuous improvement (C)

Planning and organizing (C)

Results focus (C)

Teamwork (C)

Required qualifications

• University degree in social sciences, preferably education, or related fields;

• Professional experience of at least 8 years, relevant in the field of education policy and strategy development;

• Professional knowledge about education challenges and issues as relevant to education in Yemen;

• Rigorous technical writing experience in education;

• High self-initiative and flexible in quickly adjusting to the changing workplan requirements;

• Familiarity of work with UNESCO and UN agencies in the Arab region is an asset. 3 of 3

Required language skills

• Excellent writing and oral skills in English and Arabic.

Working modalities and duration

The contractor is expected to work in his/her residence, with his/her own working tools and connectivity, and carry out the assignment in close consultation and collaboration with UNESCO.

The assignment is planned to start as soon as possible. All activities will have to be carried out within two months from the beginning of the assignment.

Application process

Candidates are requested to send the following documents to Mr Marco Pasqualini, Education Programme Specialist, by email to m.pasqualini [at] unesco.org:

• CV;

• Cover letter;

• A sample document, publication or article in English, entirely written by the candidate.

Deadline for applications: June 7, 2021 - EXTENDED.