Girls Learning Technical Lead 136 views0 applications

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.

We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it’s girls who are most affected.

Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.

We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 80 years, and are now active in more than 70 countries.

role PURPOSE

Plan International is an independent non-governmental organisation active in over 70 countries.  We strive for a just world that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.

We adopt rights-based approaches – working with children and young people, communities, and institutions to contribute toward an environment where all children, particularly girls, are able to realise their rights.

We place a specific focus on the needs and rights of adolescent girls and young women because we recognise the distinct barriers they face. We strive to adopt gender transformative approaches – working with girls and women, as well as boys and men, to promote positive change in gender norms and power relations.

We have been implementing projects, carrying out research and influencing policy and practice for over 75 years and have developed strong relationships – from community to national level – in the countries where we work.

ABOUT THE PROGRAMME

Plan International UK is currently preparing for a forthcoming DFID funded multi-million education programme in Tanzania, which has the overall aim of improving the quality of pre-primary and primary education for girls and boys in Tanzania.

The  Business Case released by DFID sets out an ambition to reach all 11.5 million girls and boys in government pre-primary and primary schools in Tanzania through Payment for Results (PforR) financing to the Government of Tanzania (GoT), with additional focussed support to 4.4 million children[1] in government pre-primary and primary schools in 9 regions of Tanzania through testing, adapting and delivering interventions at scale, which will enable the achievement of education sector ‘Payment for Results’ targets. These nine regions will be agreed between DFID and GoT prior to the start of this contract. The provisional regions are: Singida, Katavi, Tanga, Kigoma, Rukwa, Mara, Simiyu, Mtwara, and Pwani.

The desired overarching outcome of the programme is: improved quality, inclusiveness, and safety of learning for boys and girls. There will be 3 specific parts to this project:

Part 1: Payment for Results (PforR) Financing to the GoT based on achievement of Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs);

Part 2: Services procured from a Managing Agent (MA);

Part 3: Services procured from a Learning and Evaluation provider (L&E).

These ToR relate to Part 2 – services procured from a MA only.

The 4 outcome areas for the MA component to focus on in achieving the overarching outcome are:

3.2.1 All children are learning in school

3.2.2 Children with disabilities access and learn in schools

3.2.3 Girls are learning, staying in school, and progressing to secondary education

3.2.4 Children are in a safe environment in and around schools

Dimensions of the Role

The Girls’ Learning Technical Lead will be responsible for overall technical support to the programme in the implementation of the interventions under the outcome: Girls are learning, staying in school, and progressing to secondary education (hereafter referred to as the Girls’ education outcome.)

This position is contingent upon award.

Accountabilities

Technical delivery

• Lead the quality planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting of the interventions under the Girls’ education outcome
• Provide technical support to Government of Tanzania staff working with the consortium in the implementation of programme activities
• Develop a framework for the design process of interventions under the Girls Learning outcome over the inception period, that draws on internationally recognised gender-transformative education planning and guidance. This will be done in collaboration with Government of Tanzania stakeholders.
• Provide technical support to Plan Tanzania field staff, consortium partners and local implementing partner organisations to ensure project activities are being delivered in accordance with agreed minimum standards related to gender equality and social inclusion[2]
• Ensure programme design directly aligns with/supports delivery of government strategies to address gender inequalities and girls’ education as outlined in the Government of Tanzania Education Sector Development Plan 2017
• Support and contribute to the writing of the inception report to the donor and other regular reports to be produced throughout the programme
• Support the development of costed annual workplans, as needed.
• Ensure that Plan International`s global policies for Child Protection (CPP), Safeguarding, and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) are fully embedded across all project activities and aligned with similar policies under other outcome areas focusing on disability and safety
• Ensure documentation of case studies, best practices and lessons learned.
• Support M&E colleagues in formulating indicators to measure the effectiveness of interventions to ensure girls are learning, staying in school and progressing to secondary education
• Support M&E colleagues in the development of the M&E Framework
• Based on M&E findings, support the process of adapting programming to ensure that interventions most effective/ relevant to context are applied across the programme

External representation and relationship building:

• Represent Plan International Tanzania at all project management committee meetings, consortium and government partner meetings at district, regional and national levels on behalf of the consortium
• Build strong relationships with national, regional and district level Ministry of Education (and other relevant line ministries) officials responsible for addressing gender inequalities in education and coordinate regularly to ensure close alignment and complementarity of Government activities with those of the programme
• Work with relevant Government representatives to ensure project activities are focused on sustainability post project implementation
• Engage with key national, regional, and community stakeholders, including government representatives, donor, civil society, and academic institutions as needed
• Present to various audiences on the technical aspects of gender-transformative programme design and implementation and support the process of dissemination of learning.

Support and capacity building to delivery teams:

• Provide hands-on support to the Plan Tanzania project delivery team.
• Promote mutual understanding and the sharing of ideas, information and experience on girls’ education issues among team members
• Carry out capacity gap assessments and analysis with Plan International UK for Plan Tanzania project staff and coordinate training sessions based on gaps identified by the project.

• Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Child Protection (CPP) and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

Technical expertise, skills and knowledge

General requirements

• Extensive technical knowledge in thematic area of girls’ education, including knowledge of current trends in gender norms in Tanzania
• Knowledge of various strategies and interventions to support girls’ retention, progression and learning is essential
• Experience of liaising with and supporting government to deliver education strategies at different levels of the education system
• Experience in implementing community-level interventions to promote positive gender norms and girls’ education and/ or acting as a technical advisor to such programmes
• Experience of working on large, complex, donor-funded programmes. Preferably DFID-funded contracts with results-based delivery on projects
• Experience working with/ through partners, including building technical capacity of implementing partner organisations and Government staff
• A minimum of 10 years’ experience of working in Tanzania and a strong understanding of context and contextual challenges faced by communities in the country
• Strong public presentation skills and ability to represent the programme to a variety of audiences ranging from government representatives, donor, academic institutions, civil society, community representatives, and other as required.
• Experience managing teams to deliver quality and meet deadlines
• Familiarity with girl-cantered, participatory approaches to data collection
• Experience in supporting the design of both qualitative and quantitative M&E tools to capture changes in girls’ perceptions and experience of education
• Advanced report writing skills.
• Strong passion and commitment to championing girls’ right to education and to challenging harmful gender and social norms and behaviours

Education and language

• Advanced degree in a relevant field, for example, Gender Studies, Gender and Development, Gender and Education, Development Studies, or Sociology
• Fluency in English – both spoken and written
• Knowledge of Swahili and other local languages would be an advantage.

Plan International’s Values in Practice

We are open and accountable

• Promotes a culture of openness and transparency, including with sponsors and donors.
• Holds self and others accountable to achieve the highest standards of integrity.
• Consistent and fair in the treatment of people.
• Open about mistakes and keen to learn from them.
• Accountable for ensuring we are a safe organisation for all children, girls & young people

We strive for lasting impact

• Articulates a clear purpose for staff and sets high expectations.
• Creates a climate of continuous improvement, open to challenge and new ideas.
• Focuses resources to drive change and maximise long-term impact, responsive to changed priorities or crises.
• Evidence-based and evaluates effectiveness.

We work well together

• Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.
• Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.
• Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners and communities.
• Engages and works well with others outside the organization to build a better world for girls and all children.

We are inclusive and empowering

• Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.
• Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.
• Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners and communities.
• Engages and works well with others outside the organization to build a better world for girls and all children.

Physical Environment

Typical Office environment with travel to the field (different regions)

Level of contact with children

Medium contact: Medium contact with Children