International Consultancy for the Independent Appraisal Vacancy-Job Ref: BJPGUNICEF/1905/2025803

International Consultancy for the Independent Appraisal Vacancy-Job Ref: BJPGUNICEF/1905/2025803

Port Moresby (Papua N. Guinea)

JOB DESCRIPTION
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child Education

With over 850 indigenous languages and one of the most ethnically diverse populations, widespread poverty, and gender inequality make it hard for many children to realize their rights. In Papua New Guinea, UNICEF’s works effectively both ‘upstream’ (with governments) and ‘downstream’ (at the grassroots level) to carry out its mission through a programme of cooperation jointly developed with the government guides our work in the country.

How can you make a difference?

Background

In 2020, the NDoE completed a new basic education sector plan known as the National Education Plan 2020-2029 (NEP). The plan covers the ECE, primary, secondary, Flexible Open and Distance Education (FODE) and vocational education and training (VET) sub-sectors. It is aligned with the national development plans. The NEP was developed in consultation with provincial and CEA stakeholders, although development partners have noted they would have preferred a more substantial input.

The core parts of the NEP document are:

· vision, mission and values;

· summary of the education sector analysis;

· planning framework;

· nine Focus Area with outcomes, strategies, outputs, projections, targets and responsibilities

· for each sub-sector;

· finance and costing projections and gap analysis;

· staffing and enrolment projections;

· implementation and coordination arrangements;

· monitoring and evaluation (with a results framework for key performance indicators); and

· risk analysis.

Purpose and Objectives

The purpose of the consultancy is to assist the National Department of Education (NDoE) in collaboration with the Local Education Group (LEG) to ensure that the National Education Plan (NEP) 2020-2029 is sound and robust by carrying out an independent appraisal based on the IIEP-UNESCO/GPE Guidelines for Education Sector Plan Appraisal. Findings and recommendations from the independent appraisal will be considered during the up-coming Medium-Term Review (MTR) of the NEP.

The Department of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (DHERST) has a separate medium and long-term strategic plan for the post-secondary sector, known as the National Higher and Technical Education Strategic Implementation Plan. In the recent year, to address the linkages between the basic and secondary education and higher education sectors, the Department of Prime Minister and National Executive Council (DPMNEC) and the Department of National Planning and Monitoring (DNPM) coordinated in development of an overarching sector plan, an Education Sector Development Plan (ESDP), which combines core targets from the NDoE and DHERST strategic plans.

The specific objectives of the consultancy are

Review the education sector plan package submitted by NDoE including the NEP, Corporate Plan, ESA and National Higher Education and Technical Education Plan 2021-2025 and supporting documents against the criteria outlined in the IIEP-UNESCO/GPE guidelines;
Undertake key informant interviews to clarify questions about the package;
Prepare a draft appraisal report which outlines the strengths, weaknesses and short-, medium- and long-term recommendations for improvement to the package;
Present the findings to the government and Local Education Group; and
Review the response memo from the government and prepare a final independent report for the government and Local Education Group.

Methodology

The independent appraisal will use the frameworks proposed in the IIEP-UNESCO/GPE Guidelines for Education Sector Plan Appraisal and the GPE and UNESCO-IIEP Guidelines for Education Sector Plan Preparation. The appraisal process shall cover (in a coherent manner) the general questions and sub-questions outlined under the five key criteria of the GPE/IIEP Guidelines for Education Sector Plan Appraisal, presented below.

These guidelines are meant to be adapted to the national context and needs by the hired consultant in consultation with UNICEF. The stakeholders should discuss the scope and the methodology of the appraisal to be used and develop a common vision of the whole process. The appraisal process should be participatory and grounded in the policy and technical dialogue for Education Sector Plan development and review. It should involve consultations and interviews with key stakeholders who participated in Education Sector Plan preparation and review, in addition to a desk review of the Education Sector Plan and any other relevant documents. A validation discussion of the appraisal report’s findings, conclusions, and recommendations should be organized to feed into the Medium-Term Review (MTR) of the NEP in PNG.

An overview of the appraisal criteria and guiding questions are as follows:

1) Leadership and participation:

– Has the plan preparation process been country-led, participatory, and transparent?

i) Leadership and Ownership: To what extent is Government leadership and partners’ ownership

reflected in the Education Sector Plan?

ii) Participatory Process: What is the level of involvement among the local stakeholders and

development partners?

iii) Capacity Development: To what extent was plan preparation used as an opportunity to develop

national capacities in education policy and planning?

2) Soundness and Relevance:

– Does the plan constitute a solid corpus of strategies and actions addressing the key challenges of the

education sector?

i) Evidence-based education sector analysis: What empirical evidence was available and was it used

effectively?

ii) Relevance of Policies and Programs: Do the proposed priorities and programmes form a relevant

response to the challenges?

iii) Soundness of the financial framework: Is the financial framework adequate and credible?

iv) Soundness of the action plan: Does the action plan provide a sound operational framework?

3) Equity, Efficiency, and Learning in Basic Education:

– Are the key dimensions of equity, efficiency, inclusivity and learning soundly addressed to increase

sector performance?

i) Robustness and relevance of the strategies: Are the designed strategies and programmes relevant

to address the three key dimensions?

ii) Change strategies: Are the strategies designed to introduce transformational changes?

iii) Results Framework: Can the results framework be used to monitor improvements in the three key

areas?

4) Coherence:

– Does the plan constitute a consistent and coherent corpus of strategies and actions?

i) Coherence among the strategies, programmes, and interventions: Is there consistency between

the various components of the Education Sector Plan?

ii) Comprehensive costing aligned with the budget: How consistent are the scenario and the costing

with other parts of the Education Sector Plan?

iii) Coherence of monitoring and evaluation indicators: Are the M&E indicators consistent with the

policy priorities and the planned programs and activities?

5) Feasibility, Implementability, and Monitorability:

– Do the financing, implementation, and monitoring arrangements offer a good perspective for

achievement?

i) Financial feasibility: Is the financial plan adequate and realistic?

ii) System capacity: Does the plan identify and address capacity constraints that would affect plan

implementation?

iii) Governance and Accountability: Are there strategies in place to improve and establish good

governance practices and management accountability across the system?

iv) Risks to implementation and mitigation of risks: Does the Education Sector Plan design take into

consideration possible risks and constraints in implementation?

v) Robustness of the monitoring and evaluation framework: Does the M&E system provide robust

indicators based on valid and reliable data to monitor the progress toward the achievement of

outputs and outcomes described in the results framework? Are the reporting, feedback, and

consultation mechanisms transparent and adequate to maintain broad ownership duringde

implementation?

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Advanced degree in education, public policy, social science, or equivalent. A minimum of 8 years of relevant professional experience in education planning, management, monitoring and/or evaluation.

Specific Knowledge/Expertise/Skills required:

Understanding of, and experience in, carrying out independent appraisals or evaluations/assessments of education sector plans and programmes.
Successful completion of the GPE-IIEP training on the fundamentals of independent appraisal of
education sector plans will be an advantage.
Excellent oral and written communication skills in English with evidence of concise high-quality technical writing.
Demonstrated ability to communicate and consult effectively in an education ministry and with education stakeholders.
Demonstrated experience working with international / national education data.
Experience in PNG and the Pacific is considered an advantage.
Experience and commitment to capacity building on issues related to sector planning and appraisal.
Previous experience in working with UN agencies will be an asset.
For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).

Please click on the button below to Apply.