Job Posting – Education Specialist
JOB DETAILS:
Closing Date: Friday 10th September 2021
Organization: Right To Play Tanzania
Department/Division: Program
Work location: Dar Es Salaam
Authorized to work in: Tanzania
BACKGROUND:
Right To Play (RTP) is a global organisation that protects, educates and empowers children to rise above adversity using play. By harnessing play, one of the most powerful and fundamental forces in a child’s life, we help 2.3 million children to stay in school and out of work, to prevent life-threatening diseases like HIV and malaria and to stay safe from exploitation and abuse. We are the only global development organization focused exclusively on using play to transform the lives of children and youth impacted by poverty, war, disease and inequality.
Established in 2000, Right To Play is headquartered in Toronto, Canada and has operations in 22 countries across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
With a shared passion for our mission, our Culture Code guides how we act and interact based on five core pillars:
• Accept Everyone – Be intentional about inclusion
• Make Things Happen – Seek opportunities to lead and innovate
• Display Courage – Act with integrity
• Demonstrate Care – Look after yourself and one another
• Be Playful – Have fun at work
Please visit our website www.righttoplay.com to learn more about who we are and what we do, and watch this video at: https://youtu.be/3rZldrxTxw8 to find out about the five pillars of our Culture Code.
POSITION SUMMARY:
The Education Specialist reports directly to the Program Manager. He/she is responsible for providing technical advice and guidance on the development and implementation of education programs in line with the Country Strategic Plan and Right To Play’s global theory of change. The incumbent works to integrate Right To Play’s methodologies into the system level education planning and delivery, the curriculum of provincial and national boards/agencies, as well as, the activities of Right To Play’s strategic and implementing partners. This includes developing materials and resources as necessary, in collaboration with the HQ Education Specialist. The incumbent also provides technical input to the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Specialist/Officer on the development of education-related performance measurement frameworks, baseline assessments and evaluations. He/she plays a leadership role in policy engagement with external stakeholders. The Education Specialist is also responsible for analyzing education related results from Right To Play’s interventions and bringing innovative knowledge to organizational approaches.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
Job Responsibility #1: Program planning, implementation and delivery (60% of Time)
• Together with Program Manager, develop a clear country level Education strategy as part of the Country Strategic Plan that resonates with Right To Play’s global Education priorities and the organizational strategy, and is informed by internally collected and externally sourced education data.
• Provides high-quality technical input into education programme proposals with HQ, Global Partnerships and country level colleagues, including support to education needs assessments for project design.
• Drives iterative and innovative programming, using evidence and probing projects to ensure direction and approaches are still appropriate and will lead to the expected outcomes, particularly during key project cycle decision gates.
• Advises the Training team on contextualization and adaptation of global resources for local use, and occasionally supports the Training Team by quality assuring training and promoting best practice.
• Leads technical planning and monitoring of RTP’s education program(s) in line with the Country Strategic Plan, the Ministry of Education plans, and donor requirements.
• Supports Country Office Program Manager in developing education focused project proposals and concept notes for new projects.
• In coordination with Country Office Program Manager, the Gender Specialist and program staff ensures that issues of gender equality, inclusion, child protection and safeguarding, accountability, risk and vulnerability are addressed and monitored throughout all education programs.
• Leads in developing curricula and resources for basic education programs (pre-primary and primary) as needed, working in collaboration with the Global Training and Capacity Building Specialist.
• Builds networks with other Education Specialists in the cluster to support cross-learning with other RTP country programs in the region.
• Stays abreast of new developments and opportunities to develop new initiatives to improve education outcomes for children in the country.
• Provides technical leadership on the procurement and/or development of appropriate teaching and learning materials, training manuals and education resources.
• Works closely with teacher training and curriculum development institutions to integrate RTP methodology into curriculum, text books and class room teaching.
• Documents and synthesizes learning across all education projects led by the country office and shares this with HQ and local stakeholders.
• Collaborates with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Specialist/Officer (MELS/O) to develop appropriate systems, tools and procedures for the monitoring and evaluation of education programs
• Forges links with other thematic areas at country level such as Child Protection and Gender for integrated programming in program development and implementation
Job Responsibility #2: Representation, advocacy and policy engagement (25% of Time):
• Engages with government ministries, teacher training colleges and universities, and local education networks and donor groups to promote Right To Play, gain insights on trends and expectations that can align with the organizational strategy, and map and monitor other actors’ activities to ensure coordination, potentially seek partnership, and avoid duplication and maintain relevance for Right To Play in country.
• Drives collaboration and positive working relationship with Ministry of Education, ensuring effective implementation of MoUs, delivering relevant technical assistance to drive systems-level policy change for play-based learning integration, identifying entry points and opportunities for scale up of the play methodology.
• In close coordination with the Program Manager and the Country Director, leads RTP’s advocacy and policy effort in the education sector by participating in national coordination forums as applicable national strategic planning for the education sector, relevant technical working groups and other key coordination platforms.
• Represents RTP in various platforms and maintains positive relationships with governments and other relevant stakeholders regarding RTP activities.
• Regularly updates stakeholder analysis for the education sector and ensures that RTP is engaging with and is visible to the most influential actors in the sector.
• Work with MELO to Coordinates research and advocacy interventions related to the program at national and international level, using data from school-level interventions to advocate for national-level policy development/implementation.
• Leads and develops RTP’s analysis and best practices in education programming in the country and disseminates through documents and position papers with education stakeholders and within RTP at the regional and global levels.
• Provides technical inputs to regional and global strategies, policies and resources related to education programming to ensure that country experience and realities are well-reflected.
Job Responsibility #3: Capacity building support (10% of Time)
• Ensures that country staff are properly supported with the technical knowledge and skills necessary to deliver education program interventions.
• Conducts regular visits to the field to provide technical support to program teams.
WHO YOU ARE:
You are passionate about our commitment to help children and youth rise above life’s challenges through the power of play. You are highly collaborative and a relationship builder with a passion for humanitarian work, human rights and social change. You have extensive experience in Working with Tanzania Institute of Education & Ministry of Education Science and Technology, you have Great understanding of Education sector in Tanzania and Education networks, you have been implementing or providing technical support to Education Projects.
QUALIFICATIONS:
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS (Must have)
EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE
• Master’s degree in Education or related field; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 5 years’ experience implementing and providing technical guidance on basic education programs and liaising with government officials. Proven experience in project planning, report writing, networking, partnership-building and working with NGOs. Significant experience in designing and delivering training and/or the development of education materials and resources.
SKILLS / ATTRIBUTES:
• Superior organizational skills and ability to multi-task on a constant basis
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills to build rapport with staff, partners, government officials, donors and other stakeholders
• Ability to adapt and work under pressure meeting deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Creative and flexible with problem solving skills
• Demonstrated professionalism and diplomacy
• Ability to represent oneself as an effective Right To Play ambassador to high level officials
• Strategic planning skills for education initiatives
• People management particularly influence management
• Understanding of active learning approaches, particularly play-based learning
• Knowledge and understanding of best practices in basic education programs, including technical experience in teacher training and resource and curriculum development
• Understanding of community development processes
• Strong MS Office and program management tools and procedures
• Knowledge and experience with programmatic approaches related to life skills or social emotional learning
• Knowledge and experience in education research, quantitative and qualitative methods
LANGUAGES:
• Fluency written and spoken English and Swahili language(s).
WHAT YOU’LL GET:
The opportunity to work with a passionate, innovative and collaborative team where you have the ability to make things happen. You will gain experience working for a globally recognized organization with a healthy culture premised on our Culture Code (accept everyone, make things happen, display courage, demonstrate care and be playful). In addition, we offer a competitive salary and benefits package.
Target Start Date: 1st November 2021
Contract Duration: Long-term position – starts with a one-year contract to be extended based on performance and availability of funds.
