Consultant - Schools 2030 - Covid 19 Response

The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), is a private, non-denominational, international development agency established in 1967. It seeks sustainable solutions to long-term problems of poverty, hunger, illiteracy, and ill-health with special emphasis on the needs of rural communities in mountainous and other resource poor regions, primarily in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Its main areas of focus are education, health, rural development, environment and strengthening civil society.

The Aga Khan Foundation (Pakistan) [AKF(P)] is seeking high calibre professional Consultants/firms for a project Schools2030 Covid-19 Response: Creating a Support System for Mother-teachers home-based with travel to/in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral.

Consultant- An Easy Guide for Mothers-Teachers

I. Background

In response to the COVID-19 crisis, AKF (Pakistan) was awarded funding through the Schools2030 programme to address the learning loss caused by school closures in the marginalized communities within which it works.

Schools2030 is a ten-year, ten country school and classroom-based participatory action research and learning improvement programme. Using the principles of human-centred design and focusing on the key transition years of ages 5, 10 and 15, Schools2030 seeks to catalyse locally rooted education solutions that can inform systems-level approaches for improving holistic learning outcomes. The ten inaugural Schools2030 countries include Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Brazil, Portugal, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.

The Schools2030 programme brings together a historic consortium of philanthropic funding from nine Foundations and also benefits from a range of global technical partners in educational technology, research, learning assessment, policy engagement human centered design.

II. Project Description

Parental involvement in education has the potential to positively impact educational attainment, retention, and quality in schooling. However, in households where mothers level of literacy is low, there is little support for children learning at home. The Covid-19 pandemic and resulting school closure has further heightened this disparity, increasing the learning gap. During 2020 the global Schools2030 team underwent virtual training on Human- centred Design to arrive at solutions to redesign and continue learning at home and prepare for the return to schools after closure.  The AKF Pakistan education team with members from the Aga Khan University-Institute for Education Professional Development Centres in Gilgit and Chitral and the Aga Khan Education Service, Pakistan arrived at a solution to create a support system for mothers to enable them to teach children at home.

The Easy Guide for Mother-teachers aims to pave the way for a new normal in learning and 'building back better'. The purpose is to help ensure no child is left behind in learning even when they cannot access physical classrooms or the internet, by empowering mothers to effectively teach their children at home through guided support. The project hopes to develop a role for fathers and other male family members as well as form close working and respectful relationships between mothers and teachers. Crucially, it is hoped that the mother-teacher guide will empower and inspire mothers, even those at lower literacy levels, to support their children's learning all year round. The Easy Guide for Mother-teachers will help us build evidence to convince policymakers that enabling mother-teachers will have a positive effect on student learning outcomes all year round and not just in a crisis.

III. Objective of the Consultancy

The purpose of this consultancy assignment is to develop and pilot a mother-teacher guide with lesson plans, videos, stories activities and daily routines to address the learning loss caused by Covid-19.  The central idea behind the development of mother-teacher guides is that mothers can play a crucial role in bridging the learning loss gap. The guide would be a child-centered, outcome focused and joyful way for home-schooling to address this disruption to student education due to Covid-19.

The consultancy has two main components:

·         Creating a guide that will cater to mother-teachers with different levels of literacy. The resource pack should encompass, a choice of lessons, videos, stories, activities, daily routines, and lesson plans.

·         Conduct a pilot of the guide in selected villages in, KPK Chitral and Gilgit -Baltistan and revise the guide based on the findings from the pilot.

IV. Functions/Key Results Expected

·         Review the Human-centered Design process undertaken and linked summary pages along with the Proposal for the Support System for Mother-teachers.

·         Develop lesson plans for key learning outcomes for kacchi- year 5.

·         Curate contextually relevant stories as part of the guide

·         Develop activities for mothers to use at home with their children aligned with student learning outcomes in the National Curriculum and joyful playful learning pedagogies.

·         Create daily routines that are achievable and incremental in nature

·         Conduct a pilot with 24 mother-teachers/males/families and 10 teachers. (12 families each in a village in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral)

·         Conduct initial and review meetings with AKF and AKU-IED Professional Development Centres and incorporate feedback

·         Include strategies for involving fathers and other male family members and a wider support system for mothers.

·         Include feedback from educators, mother-teachers, male members of the families, children, and teachers after the pilot

·         Develop a comprehensive pilot report

V. Reporting Relationship

The incumbent will work under the guidance of the National Coordinator, Schools2030 and Director Education AKF (Pakistan). The consultant will also closely liaise with colleagues from the Professional Development Centres in Gilgit and Chitral. The consultant shall submit all developed materials, reports, and data to the AKF (Pak) Education Department.

VI. Duration of the Assignment

The assignment will be implemented over a period of 4.5 months from the signing of the contracts. Contractual/professional fees will be made upon submission of deliverables as per the following millstones, and approval of the same by AKF, (Pak).

VII. Required Qualifications and Experience

·         At least five (5) years of relevant work experience, working with parents, teachers, and school communities.   At least five (5) years of pre-primary/primary teaching experience.

·         Master’s degree in early child development/primary education, teacher education or other relevant fields preferable.

·         Strong knowledge and understanding of teaching and learning material development using various media and working with mothers with different literacy levels.

·         Strong organizational and time management skills

·         Understanding of the context and the National Curriculum to create contextually relevant material aligned with modern teaching and learning pedagogies and student learning outcomes at the pre-primary and primary levels.

·         Experience in conducting field work

·         Excellent research skills

·         Strong written and verbal communication skills

·         Fluency in English and Urdu

VIII. Confidentiality  

The Consultant shall not, either during the term or after termination of the assignment, disclose any confidential information related to the consultancy service without prior written consent. All materials and documents prepared by the consultant under this assignment shall become and remain properties of the AKF, (Pak). All materials produced will be the intellectual property of AKF (Pak).

AKF (Pak) offers a competitive remuneration package and conducive working environment. We are an equal opportunity employer, committed to safeguarding and protecting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults. Female candidates are encouraged to apply.

Please note that the applicant(s) are advised to upload their Profiles, Technical & Financial proposal(s) properly. No direct application will be entertained.

The deadline for applications is February 1, 2021. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.