Brazil has come a long way in terms of the right to education in recent decades. However, access to education has not yet been universalized, as required by law. In 2019, around 1.1 million children and adolescents were out of school (Pnad / IBGE). This number reached more than 5 million during the COVID-19 pandemic (Pnad - COVID, 2020). Once the health emergency has passed, its legacy remains in education, with an increase in educational inequalities, especially among girls and boys who are already historically more vulnerable, such as the poor, blacks, and indigenous people. Research by UNICEF and IPEC, carried out in September 2022, projected that 2 million children and adolescents aged 11 to 19 were not attending school in Brazil, double the number in 2019, before the pandemic.
According to the 2022 School Census, more than 1.8 million students failed in Brazil, almost 6 million were in age-grade distortion and around 740,000 dropped out of school. In addition, there was an increase from 15.5 per cent to 33.8 per cent in the number of second graders who couldn't read and write even single words between 2019 and 2021 (Source: SAEB, 2021).
Among the challenges left by the covid-19 pandemic, the delays and damage to the learning and development of children and adolescents resulting from the prolonged closure of schools for face-to-face activities is one of the most visible and will require coordinated action from different sectors of Brazilian society in the coming years.
Education unit has the role to address different themes as access to education and its quality, specific issues on childhood education, connectivity and, aligned with UNICEF Strategic Plan 2022-2025, is also implementing projects on how to have schools and students addressing the impact of climate, environment and disaster risk on children and adolescents, among other themes.
As part of the different themes and quantity of donors and agreed deliverables, a consultancy is needed to work closely to education colleagues, to ensure timely deliverables, monitoring processes and quality reporting.
Scope Of Work:
Work closely with Education team to support the preparation, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of educational projects that contributes to the guarantee of children and adolescent's rights with the participant municipalities of Seal UNICEF and the UNICEF City Agenda, as well as in the states where the area has partnership projects
Collect and analyze inputs and data on programme activities, results and strategies in order to elaborate strategic Donor Reports and/or donor proposals.
Monitor data and information from education projects, considering the achieved results in relation to UNICEF mission to the guarantee of the rights of children and adolescents.
Monitor data and information related to the management of special projects such as “Education and Climate Change”.
Minimum Qualifications Requirement:
Degree in Management, Education, Psychology, Sociology, or other social science field is required.
Advanced University degree (equivalent to Masters) in education or in related area.
A minimum of 7 years of professional work experience at national or international levels in relevant Education programs. Experience in UN system agency or organization is an asset.
Fluency in Portuguese and English is required. Knowledge of French and/or Spanish is an asset.
Knowledge on children’s rights issues, including the Convention of Rights of the Child and the Statute of the Child and the Adolescent.
Experience in content production and project management.
Teamwork skills and capacity to work with tight deadlines.
Knowledge in the use of digital media tools and social networks.
Experience in the production of materials for learning programs or content for social mobilization initiatives.
Language Proficiency:
Excellent writing skills in Portuguese and English.
