South Sudan: Education Officer

Background and purpose

With 1.3 million children out of school and the qualified teacher to pupil ratio at 1:117, South Sudan has some of the most challenging education indicators in the world. The recent crisis has further exacerbated education challenges in the country. Approximately 70% of the country’s out-of-school children live in pastoralist communities, requiring urgent intervention on the part of education actors. The female illiteracy rate is estimated to be close to 85%, the highest in Africa. With maternal mortality rate of 2,054 deaths per 100,000 live births, a 15-year-old girl in South Sudan has a greater chance of dying in childbirth than of finishing school. However, demand for education is high, especially among girls, female youth and women, who start to realize the value of opportunity and wish to attend school and literacy classes.

This Education Officer – Literacy and Pastoralist Education position will provide overall assistance to the Education Specialist - Literacy and Pastoralist Education, for two related projects:

The first is the Literacy and Life Skills for Women project, funded by the US with an aim of providing female youth aged 15-35 with literacy and life skills. The project objectives are:

• Increase access to quality literacy, life skills and income-generation opportunities by establishing multi-purpose learning centres, targeting women and girls aged 15-35;
• Develop institutional capacities in planning, managing, monitoring and evaluating quality literacy and life skills programmes for female youth;
• Advocate for literacy for women.

The second project is the Pastoralist Education, Literacy and Life Skills project, funded by the EU and in partnership with FAO. This project has two main objectives:

• Improve livelihood security, and empowerment of pastoralist households and communities through education;
• Strengthen institutional capacity to provide sustainable and accountable skills transfer, strategy and education services to pastoralist communities.

The projects will complement UNESCO’s ongoing activities in the areas of Literacy and Life Skills, including the teaching of ex-combatants within the Disarmament, Demobilization, Rehabilitation (DDR) Programme; UNESCO’s CapEFA programme which builds institutional capacities; as well as the ‘Skills for Life’ and ‘Literacy for Life’ projects which train teachers and students in conflict affected regions.

The Education Officer will provide assistance with project management and technical advisory tasks and will support the Education Specialist to ensure that the Literacy and Life Skills for Women project and the Pastoralist Education, Literacy and Life Skills meet the educational needs of the target groups.

Terms of Reference

Under the direct supervision of the Education Specialist - Literacy and Pastoralist Education:

1. Project Assistance:

1.1 Assist with all aspects of the Literacy and Life Skills for Women and Pastoralist Education, Literacy and Life Skills project, including;

• Together with Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST), help to develop detailed project work plans and monitoring and evaluation plans for each project, indicating deliverables, roles and responsibilities, alignment with UNESCO’s literacy programme and specific related projects.
• Support the establishment of literacy centres around the country, to provide literacy and numeracy, life skills, basic vocational skills.
• Assist with organisation and delivery of training of trainers and work with consultants to develop literacy, life skills and pastoralist education training materials (drawing on existing materials available).
• Together with Ericsson, Zain and education partners, support the establishment of mobile phone learning and monitoring network and build on the connect.teaching model, using tablets as tools for teaching.
• Assist with the organisation and material development for an advocacy campaign through audio and print media, as well as mobile phones networks.
• Provide project assistance to the Education Specialist - Literacy and Pastoralist Education, as required

2. Technical Assistance:

2.1 Contribute to strategic planning and fundraising plans of UNESCO Juba’s literacy initiatives.

2.2 Work in close collaboration and ensure complementary programming with partners, specifically those working on Alternative Education Systems (AES); Literacy; Learning outcomes and Girls Education, including DFID; EU, Save the Children; UNICEF.

2.3 Where required, attend Literacy-related group meetings and initiatives, including the AES and Literacy Technical Working Group and others as requested.

2.4 Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications and experience

1. An advanced university degree in a relevant field;
2. A minimum of two years of relevant professional experience in the area of education, ideally in a crisis-affected context;
3. Experience assisting with project tasks, budgeting and monitoring and evaluation;
4. Experience working closely with project partners, including Ministries of Education at central and local levels;
5. Willingness to work in self-administrating environment
6. Strong interpersonal skills and willingness to work as part of a collaborative and growing education team;
7. Flexibility and adaptability to adjust to contextual challenges and needs accordingly;
8. Excellent oral and written communication skills, an analytical and strategic approach and ability to clearly articulate key ideas in simple and accessible language;
9. Fluency in English (verbal and writing);
10. Familiarity with the context of South Sudan an added advantage.

Email CV and Cover Letter to edu.unescojuba@gmail.com by Wednesday 30 April

Email Subject line should state: ‘Education Officer – Literacy and Pastoralist Education – Application’