School-Community Partnerships Coordinator, Kigali at Save the Children 55 views0 applications

Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organisation for children. We work in 120 countries. We work together, with partners, to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives. Save the Children works in thirteen districts in Rwanda with a current staff complement of approximately 164 staff.

SC Rwanda Country Office seeks to hire qualified, committed and experienced National to fill the following position:

Position: School-Community Partnerships Coordinator

Place of Work:

Based in Kigali at REB office with frequent travel to the field

Reports to:

Staff directly reporting to this post:

Time frame:

Tentative start date:

SCOPETechnical Advisor

None

Open Ended

ASAP

CHILD SAFEGUARDING:

Level 3- the role holder will have contact with children and/or young people

either frequently (e.g. once a week or more)

or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work in country programs; or are visiting country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.

PURPOSE OF POSITION:

Save the Children is seeking a School-Community Partnerships Coordinator for a current USAID-funded-project, entitled SCOPE or in Kinyarwanda, Mureke Dusome. The position will support the Rwandan Education Board to create and roll-out a school-community partnership model that supports improved learning and literacy for children in grades 1-3.

The School-Community Partnerships Coordinator will work closely with REB, specifically the School Leadership and Management Unit within the Teacher Development and Management Department, to ensure that the project aligns with and supports the department’s wider work. S/he will lead on liaising with key stakeholders for the finalization of Parent-School Partnership Standards, the development and testing of SCOPE training modules for SEOs, School Leadership and SGAC, as well as provide technical support and oversight of elements of the program that target focus on SGAC engagement.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Training Development, Policy Support and Coordination

• Promote and coordinate mechanisms for active collaboration amongst REB and project staff and partners, establishing and communicating realistic and committed work plans, taking into consideration deadlines, dependencies and resources;
• Lead on alignment of REB SLM and SCOPE work plans to ensure complementarity between approaches and plans
• Collaborate with project staff and REB/SLMU to review standards and training modules for Head Teachers, SGACs and SEOs;
• Work alongside REB to obtain approval of standards, guides, and training materials
• Support REB in publicising and applying standards, once approved, as well as supporting the incorporation of activities into annual plans;
• Collaborate with Training Coordinator to organize trainings for DEOs, SEOs, HTs and SGACs
• Work together with other SLM staff (at both REB and Save the Children) and Training Coordinator to follow up with SEOs, HTs and SGACs on the completion of training modules;
• Initiate Peer Learning Circles between SEOs, Hts and SGACs;
• Collaborate with key partners to ensure gender-sensitive and inclusive messaging;
• Advocate within REB/SLMU, Rwanda Reads, and other forums for incorporation of best practices in literacy-focused school-community partnerships in Rwanda;
• Provide support to REB staff-SLM unit in their planned activities that promote School Leadership and SGACs;
• Advocate within REB and districts to incorporate children’s literacy-related activities into their Imihigo;
• Disseminate key literacy messages and Parent-School Partnership Standards whenever the opportunity arrives;
• Coordinate with URCE and other partners on formative research into interests, attitudes and needs of stakeholders, including DEOs, SEOs, HTs, DHTs, and SGAC members;
• Coordinate with URCE to incorporate children’s literacy promotion and introduction of the Parent-School Partnership standards content in the modules covered by HTs for their post graduate courses;
• Develop and submit annually, quarterly and monthly work plans
• Provide monthly and quarterly report in accordance with the agreed schedules
• Develop case stories detailing the activities covered.
• Share with REB summaries of approved donor reports
• Participate in relevant working groups and task forces, including the School Based Mentor Task Force

External Networking & Representation:

• Collaborate and build on other development partners’ initiatives and best practices related to school-community partnerships and a culture of reading
• Represent Save the Children in REB meetings and other relevant partner meetings.

Innovations:

• Advocate within REB and Educational partners to take strategies of ensuring that people with disabilities and other vulnerable parents are able to participate actively in school community
• Collaborate with relevant partners in the development of strategies for both fathers’ and mothers’ engagement in supporting children’s literacy skills development;
• Collaborate with relevant gender-focused stakeholders on building the capacity of women to assume leadership roles within SGACs and provide ideas during the meetings;
• Encourage REB and other educational partners to include in their plans the support of School Leadership and SGAC to implement the National Parent School Partnership Standards.

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL)

• Identify key management information required and provide support in designing an effective system through reviewing program data collection formats to ensure developed tools generate the required information;
• Support MEAL staff in the preparation of data collection and research, as well as in dissemination of research findings;
• Highlight early to SCOPE Technical Advisor any potential constraints to implementation of project so that action can be taken to address this;
• Document progress on indicators/achievement of targets, action plans and accountability mechanisms and provide feedback for improvements;
• Ensure the use of MEAL findings to inform programme decision making and quality improvements;
• Share successful stories, lessons learnt and other related materials to SCOPE team.

Child Safeguarding

• Understand the provisions of the Child Safeguarding Policy, Code of Conduct and Local/Country Procedures and conduct oneself in accordance with the rules of the Child Safeguarding Policy, in personal and professional lives – which includes reporting suspicions of child abuse;
• Do children risk assessment before conducting any activity;
• Ensure that all project activities carried out are considered in relation to prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse and handling of serious complaints in line with the child safeguarding policy;
• Promote the message of child safeguarding to colleagues in other organizations and government ministries, children in their own and beneficiary families, and community members in general and be vigilant about observing possible child abuse/harm in their personal and professional lives.

General:

• Comply with Save the Children policies and practice with respect to child protection, code of conduct, health and safety, equal opportunities and other relevant policies and procedures;
• Coordinate with the Communications Specialist and other project staff to ensure compliance with USAID’s marking and branding guidelines and all REB/MINEDUC policies on all materials developed;
• Perform other duties, as assigned by Chief of Party or Technical Advisor.

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (our Values in Practice)

Accountability:

• Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities – giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved
• Creates a managerial environment to lead, enable and maintain our culture of child safeguarding

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same
• Widely shares personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale

Collaboration:

• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to; builds and maintains effective relationships with colleagues, members and external partners and supporters
• Values diversity and different people’s perspectives, able to work cross-culturally.

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• Cuts away bureaucracy and encourages an entrepreneurial approach

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency, builds trust and confidence
• Displays consistent excellent judgement
• Acts in the best interests of children

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

• University degree (Master’s degree preferred) in education, or related discipline
• Knowledge and understanding of Education policies and Education Sector Strategic Plan
• Experience in coordinating, organizing and conducting training to DEOs, SEOs, HTs and SGACs
• Proven ability to forge connections with Ministries and Boards such as MINEDUC, MINALOC, MINISPOC, and REB.
• Excellent planning, management and coordination skills, with the ability to organise a workload comprised of varying and changing tasks and responsibilities
• Understanding of key concepts supporting early grade reading / literacy programming
• Patient, adaptable, flexible, able to improvise and remain responsive and communicate clearly and effectively under pressure
• Strong communication (written and spoken) in Kinyarwanda and in English
• Ability to deliver presentations suitable for a range of audiences
• Good attention to detail, strong analytical and problem solving skills
• Ability to prioritise workloads and manage time effectively
• Ability to work effectively on own initiative
• Good computer skills
• At least five years of relevant experience
• Experience as a Head Teacher and/or a SEO and with teacher training programs/systems in Rwanda is desirable.

CHILD SAFEGUARING POLICY:

Any employee, consultant, contractor or the supplier undertaking an activity on behalf of SCI must sign the Child Safeguarding –

Declaration of Acceptance Form] and comply with the SCIs Child Safeguarding Policy which is a statement of SCI’s commitment to preventing abuse and protecting children with whom it comes into contact.

• This extends not only to children with whom SCI and its partners work directly, but also includes children whom staff are responsible for. SCI believes that the situation of children must be improved through the promotion of their rights supported and demonstrated by all members of staff. Save the Children International’s Code of Conduct sets out the standards which all staff members must adhere to.

Interested candidates should send an application letter plus updated Curriculum Vitae in English, including 3 names of professional referees to [email protected]. The deadline for receiving applications is 7^th June 2017.

Please mention School-Community Partnerships Coordinatoras subject of your mail.

*Note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Location: Kigali at REB office with frequent travel to the field, Rwanda