Provincial Coordination Officer for CBE (PCO)

About Ministry of Education (MoE)

The aim of the EQRA Project is “to increase equitable access to primary and secondary education, particularly girls, in selected lagging provinces, and to improve learning conditions in Afghanistan.” EQRA introduces a shift from monitoring only the enrollment of students (which also includes attention to students designated as ‘permanently absent’) to focusing on bringing children into school as well as student attendance. The Education Quality Reform for Afghanistan (EQRA) is fully aligned with the goals of the Afghanistan National Strategic Plan (NESP III). The project is designed to (A) increase equitable access in disadvantaged districts especially for girls; (B) improve quality of instruction/education service delivery and (C) enhance MoE governance and management capacity. The project focuses on the construction and expansion of schools, provide community-based education to out of school children, reform curriculum for all grades, improve and ensure textbooks delivery to schools, enhance academic supervision, strengthen teacher & TTC quality, improve execution of budget, strengthen and increase use of EMIS, implement capacity building reform, and reform recruitment process for civil service.

Job Summary

CBE Community Based Education (CBE) is part of the formal education system in Afghanistan offering education services through establishing of outreach classes within school catchment areas (Community Based Classes and Accelerated Learning Classes) in hard to reach, insecure, less or no girls schooling, and underserved pockets of the society. CBE in Afghanistan is a successful approach in reaching the unreached considering the scarcely populated nature of Afghanistan’s context.

Ministry of Education’s only on-budget national program EQRA supports the establishment of harmonized standards to improving equity in access to education, efficiency, and scalability of CBE as per approved CBE policy. It is also targeted to reach additional 33,000 students in underserved communities; identified as areas where there are no government schools within a specified distance of 3 km. EQRA will support the retention of this batch of 33,000 students during its implementation.

Job Summary:

The main tasks of Provincial Coordination Officers (PCOs) for the CBE component of EQRA are to assist the Provincial Education Directorates (PEDs) in supporting Community-based Education (CBE) activities in the respective province. 

PCOs will not only be responsible for the successful implementation of the CBE component of the EQRA project but also assist the General Education Departments at the provincial level to strengthen their capacity in ensuring improved delivery of educational services and will also act as facilitators/supporters to other components of the EQRA project that are to be implemented within the jurisdiction of GED. These projects are directly/indirectly implemented within the jurisdiction of GED like Early Childhood Education (ECE), Coaching and Mentoring, Data quality improvement, and teachers’ performance.

PCO will also be responsible for school mapping exercises to identify the untouched pockets of the society where the CBE classes shall be established.

In addition to that, the PCOs will follow the MoE guidelines and approaches to monitor all CBE classes implemented by Implementing Partners (IPs) and MoE in the province and will share regular monitoring information and data with the PED and General Education Directorate CBETU of MoE in Kabul. The PCO, supervised by the PCO Team Leader, will also work with the General Education Department and other relevant departments at the PED level who will be responsible to assist the successful implementation of CBE classes in their provinces and ensure accurate data flow from PEDs to CBE Database and EMIS.

The PCO will also oversee and monitor the IPs field staff and work on a regular basis that is contracted by MoE to implement CBE classes and will provide regular feedback and guidance to the IPs to make sure they implement the CBE classes as per MoE standards and requirements and they follow the rules of the contract and MoU. The PCO shall collect regular feedback from IPs and field staff and communicate it to PEDs and CBETU at Central level and will follow up with his/her supervisor until resolved and reverted. 

The PCOs shall also be responsible for supporting and coordinating the successful digitalization of MoE information and communication system to make sure the dataflow from schools level to MoE is accurate, timely, consistent, regular and useful for MoE management decisions making purpose.

The incumbent shall be responsible for:

Duties & Responsibilities

1. Train/orient relevant PED staff (General Education), District Education Managers, and Education Supervisors at provincial and district levels on MoE policy and guidelines on CBE.

2. Act as facilitators/supporters to other components of the EQRA project that are to be implemented within the jurisdiction of GED like Early Childhood Education (ECE), Coaching and Mentoring, Data quality improvement, and teachers’ performance.

3. Provide orientation to PED and DED relevant staff on existing CBE classes in the province/district and on CBE monitoring and reporting procedures that will be used in all provinces.

4. Train the district education staff and school headmasters about mapping the catchment areas of the existing schools and identifying the areas/communities that have no access to education.

5. Train relevant PED and DED staff about planning, implementation, monitoring, and reporting on CBE classes and their data and activities.

6. Support the PED on the School Mapping exercise 

7. Report as per the harmonized approach developed in the CBE implementation guidelines

8. Overseeing the implementation of CBE classes both by MoE and IP and prepare reports as instructed by the supervisor.

9. Support the successful coordination, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and institutionalization of the CBE component of EQRA.

10. Work with the PED and DED closely to ensure the digitalization of Dataflow from School level to MoE.

11. Assist the General Education Departments at the provincial level to strengthen their capacity in ensuring improved delivery of educational services

12. Work with PED and DEDs to develop plans for establishment/expansion of CB classes in the province/district

13. Ensure relevant staff in different levels use the CBE monitoring system to record progress and report to upper level

14. Conduct monitoring and verification visits to CBE classes’ locations and verify accuracy of the progress reports submitted by Implementing Partner and DED

15. Prepare monthly updates and quarterly (cumulative) progress report on CBE. (targets, progress, challenges, recommendations)

16. Ensure classes have textbooks and materials & teachers are receiving salaries. 

Cluster and map CBE classes with the nearest Hub-School.

17. Ensure that all CBE students and classes are registered and exam results are shared with the MoE.

18. Coordinate with other CBE key stakeholders/implementing Partners at the provincial level and share their findings and recommendations with CBETU.

19. Coordinate CBE progress and reports/status with education stakeholders at the provincial level.

20. Conduct regular meetings with teachers, students, and School Management Shura (SMS) members to help understand the progress of CBE classes and ensure smooth operation of CBE classes.

21. Providing support to the social mobilization unit at the provincial level for a better implementation of the School Grants Pilot

Deliverables:

1. CBE Program in target province and given timeline implemented.

2. School mapping plan developed and School Mapping for Existing and New CBEs conducted.

3. Data Collection done, and School Dataflow mechanism in target province at PED, DED, and School levels implemented

4. CBE training programs conducted at sub-national level and monthly reports for CBE Unit and PED prepared and shared

5. CBE Handover and transition performed and handover and transition reports shared with CBE Unit and PED

6. Monthly monitoring and visits conducted and reports shared with CBE Unit.

Any other assignment

Perform any other assignment given by the PCO Team Leader, Director GED, PED director.

Job Requirements

Education: University degree in Education, Business Administration, Public Administration or Similar.

Work Experience:

4 years experience in the education sector in Afghanistan and preferably experience with CBE classes.  

Supervision: The PCO will be supervised by the PCO Team Leader based in Kabul. The relevant PED Director will also supervise and report on the activities of the PCO.

Recruitment, work condition, and evaluation

1) Recruitment:

a. The recruitment will be done through transparent and competitive processes.

2) Work conditions

a. The PCO will work according to Afghanistan MoE’s rules and regulations.

b. MoE will provide a proper workstation at the provincial education directorate.

c. The PCO will be reported to the PCO team leader

3) Evaluation

a. The initial six months will be considered a probationary period.

b. A formal performance evaluation shall be conducted annually jointly by the relevant department and MoE leadership

c. An exit interview will be conducted upon completion of the contract. This exit interview constitutes the condition for final payment.

d. Contract Extension is subject to fund availability, organization’s need, and satisfactory need.

1. Understanding of CBE

2. Excellent Communication Skills

3. Excellent Interpersonal Skills

4. Good Coordination and Reporting Skills

5. Outstanding Problem-Solving skills

6. Great understanding of Community, people, and their needs.

Languages: Written and spoken fluency in Dari and Pashto and English languages is a must.

Submission Guideline

Interested Afghan candidates should submit their letter of interest (cover letter) along with the updated resumes to:

HR, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION Deh Afghanan, Gul Bahar Center, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Street, 7th Floor, First Corridor, First Office, Kabul, Afghanistan

no later than 7th July 2021. candidates who have access to the Internet can send their applications to the below email.

You are requested to send your letter of interest along with your updated resume. Please mention the post title and vacancy number in the subject line of your email (NO APPLICATION WILL BE ACCEPTED WITHOUT SUBJECT LINE. THE APPLICATION MUST HAVE SUBJECT LINE INDICATING TITLE AND VACANCY NUMBER). However, do not email us heavy-sized files such as your certificates, recommendation letters, etc. We kindly request all the applicants to mention their graduation date of the university and must clearly write the date of experience in the CV. THOSE WHO DO NOT FULFILL THE APPLYING REQUIREMENTS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED FOR THE SHORTLIST. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and called for the test and interview. The test & interview dates, time, and place will be determined and communicated with the shortlisted candidates only sooner after the deadline of the vacancy announcement. 

Ministry of Education is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

MoE does not and will not discriminate in employment and personnel practices on the basis of race, sex, handicap, religion, ethnic origin or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.

preference will be given to those applicants who are based in their relevant provinces.

Candidates with disabilities and qualified female candidates are highly encouraged to apply.

Note: for EQRA Project Positions recruitment process please visit the Ministry of Education website: https://moe.gov.af/en/eqra

Functional Area

Education/ Training

Countries

Submission Email

applications.worldbank@moe.gov.af

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