Country: Georgia
Closing date: 05 Mar 2018
Early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Georgia represents a decentralized system with municipalities in charge of provision of public ECEC services free of charge for children 2-6 years of age. In response to a number of system level challenges in ECEC, the Parliament of Georgia adopted the first ever Law on Early and Preschool Education and Care (EPEC) in June of 2016. The law includes major innovations targeted to improving quality, access and equity in ECEC throughout Georgia. The EPEC law introduces mandatory national standards and a standard-based authorisation system for all public and private preschool institutions.
UNICEF has been supporting the Government of Georgia with the implementation of the EPEC law. In 2016 and 2017 UNICEF provided technical assistance to the line ministries in the development of national technical regulations. Four of the regulations: Standards on WASH, Nutrition, ECEC pedagogue professional standards and education standards have been approved by the Government of Georgia in October, 2017. Additionally, UNICEF provided technical support to the Ministry of Education of Georgia to develop training modules and related teaching aids for ECEC pedagogues. UNICEF furthermore is providing technical support to the Preschool Education Interagency Coordination Council under the Legal Issues Committee of the Parliament of Georgia established in 2017 to oversee and monitor the effectiveness and efficiency of the implementation of the law.
During 2018, UNICEF continues its support to the central and local government in capacity building of key stakeholders and duty bearers to develop and harmonize bylaws with the EPEC Law and ensure better preparedness for implementation of the law and national standards at grassroots level. One of the most urgent and major tasks in this regards is the finalization and adoption of the Rule of Authorization including required instruments in Annexes and the Standard for Control provided by the Law under Article 7b. (Article 28.1 further provides that the Authorization Rule should have been approved by the Government before 1st October of 2017).
To provide technical assistance to the Administration of the Government of Georgia in their efforts to develop and approve the aforementioned normative documents, as well as to help the central and municipal level governments to plan and launch the authorization process, UNICEF is selecting a qualified and experienced national consultant for the service of 5 months as below explained.Â
Overall goal of this consultancy is to support the Human Rights Secretariatof theAdministrationof the Government ofGeorgia in their efforts to develop, consult, validate and approve the authorization regulations for public and private pre-school institutions, including respective instruments and control standard as provided for by the EPEC Law.
The specific tasks, deliverables and timelines under the consultancy are:
Deliverables 1: A draft of the Rule of Authorization of preschool institutions
Deliverable 2: A draft of the Control Standards to be fully in conformity with relevant legislation of Georgia.
Timeline: Month one
Deliverables 3,4,5,6,7: draft Self-Assessment Questionnaires for each of the 5-national standards listed above
Timeline: Months One and two
Deliverable 8: draft of the Rules and Procedures for the Selection and Operation of Authorization Experts
Timeline: Months one and two
Deliverable 9: Report from the focus group meetings discussing the draft legislation listed above
Timeline: Months one and two
Deliverable 10: final draft by-laws with respective instruments reflecting all relevant comments from consultations above
Timeline: Months one and two
Deliverable 11: presentations and facilitation of the discussion of the draft bylaws as needed
Timeline: Month two
Deliverables 12: Revised, final draft of the sample Rule of Monitoring (internal and external) of preschool institutions fully in conformity with relevant legislation of Georgia and consistent with the Rule of Authorization and Control Standards as needed.
Timeline: Months three
Deliverable 13: a progress report on the results of technical discussions and on the process of guidance and implementation of the authorization.
Timeline: Months three, four and five
The consultancy service is required for the duration of five (5) months starting from March 2018. The service is based in Tbilisi with possible required travels to municipalities. The consultant has no entitlement for annual leave, sick leave, maternity, adoption or paternity leave or any other kinds of special leave. UNICEF also does not provide or arrange any health insurance coverage for consultants. A Health Statement must be submitted to UNICEF prior to signing the contract.
The consultant will work under the overall supervision of UNICEF's Education Officer and the Human Rights Secretaryof theAdministrationof the Government ofGeorgia. Day-to-day supervision and guidance will be provided by UNICEF's Education/Early Child Education Officer.
Qualifications and experience required are:
Competencies required are:
The consultant's performance will be evaluated against the following criteria: timeliness, responsibility, initiative and quality of the products delivered.
The consultancy fee and travel costs within Georgia will be negotiated between UNICEF and the consultant on the basis of an original offer from the consultant. The consultancy fee will be paid to the consultant in one or several instalments upon submission and approval of relevant reports and quality deliverables.
The contract may be terminated by either party before its expiry date by giving a 14 days notice in writing to the other party. However, in the event of termination on the ground of misconduct, UNICEF will be entitled to terminate the contract immediately, without earlier notice. In case of early termination of the contract, the Contractor will be compensated on a pro-rata basis for no more than the actual amount of work completed to the satisfaction of UNICEF.
How to apply:
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organization. To apply, click on the following link http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/?job=511256