Education Specialist - Plan International

Plan International in partnership with Instiglio and the Jacobs Foundation will implement the Education Outcome Fund Programme (EOF) under the Ghana Accountability and Learning Outcomes Programme (GALOP). The programme aims to improve the quality of education in low-performing basic education schools and strengthen education sector equity and accountability in Ghana. The Programme will run for a period of 4 years and will be implemented across 3 regions in Ghana (North East, Savana and Bono East) and 11 districts. The Project will support a total of 240 communities/schools.

The Education Manager will be responsible for leading the design, development and future adaptations of the Project’s Teaching and Learning approach to Literacy and Numeracy Remedials and after-school sessions for students and out-of-school children, as well as teacher and leadership training. The role will also contribute to developing standard materials for community training sessions in 240 remote sites in 3 different regions.

The Education Manager will work to ensure the Programme meets its expected literacy and numeracy and transition outcomes. The role will be mainly based in Accra/Tamale in but will involve travel to other regions where the participating schools are located. The role will involve frequent engagement with remote teachers face to face and via the phone.

Dimensions of the Role

The Education Team Manager will work with the Project Manager and the Education Specialist. The post holder will support the Programme team to meet the Teaching and Learning (T&L) needs of the project beneficiaries and stakeholders. The Education Manager will be primarily responsible for the curriculum design and associated pedagogy and andragogy approaches for the project in Ghana. This will include both the in-school and after-school curricula.

The Education Manager will work with the Project Manager and Education Specialist to ensure the curricula is in line with Ghana Education Service curricula, Ghana Teacher Standards and all other relevant MoE and sectorial standards; and addresses the different needs of pupils, teachers and communities. He/She will also be responsible for the professional development of the remote project facilitators, quality of content delivery, reporting, and monitoring, in order to improve educational outcomes for beneficiary students, and teaching practices for beneficiary teachers.

The role requires capacity building and organisational skills to manage, with the support of field staff, a team of remote 480 in-school facilitators and 240 CBE facilitators across 3 regions and 11 districts. The role also involves interpreting data to inform curriculum and methodology changes. This requires constant communication with the Education Specialist and the Project Manager. The Education Team will be in charge of preparing budgets for conducting educational assessments of EOF beneficiaries and capacity building activities for Project staff.

The post holder will represent the Project during field visits for monitoring purposes, as well as in donor and stakeholders’ events and activities such as specialized forums, webinars and workshops. The job holder will also support field staff capacity building in Teaching and Learning approaches to enhance school management and teaching quality provision in the participant schools.

Accountabilities

Leadership and Management

• Remotely manage over 240 in-school teachers and 120 CBE facilitators
• Support the CPD for project facilitators face to face, via field staff and using remote innovative tech approaches
• Apply/introduce innovative approaches and good practice to build the capacity of team members and stakeholders and to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable programme results
• Contribute to the development and implementation of policies and procedures to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy of sustainable programmes
• Organize and implement capacity-building initiatives to enhance the competencies of teachers/stakeholders to promote sustainable results in education and related programmes/projects
• Complete detailed monthly reports on log frame indicators and monthly progress
• Prepare regular/mandated program/project reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of program progress
• Report in line with child protection and safeguarding procedures and contribute to the development of child protection practices
• Maintain the logical framework outputs, ensuring indicator achievements are updated on a regular basis and shared with the Programme Manager
• Manage the relevant workstream budgets

Qualification Required & Experience

• University degree in Education
• Minimum of 5 years’ teaching experience
• Accreditation in school leadership and teacher training
• Strong lesson planning and curriculum development skills
• Experience in Inclusive education in the education sector in Ghana in mainstream and non-mainstream settings
• Experience providing capacity building to Primary and Junior High School teachers
• Familiarity with primary teaching, pedagogy and assessment frameworks
• Experience with the state education system/curricula in Ghana.
• Proven experience in curriculum design for English and Maths and gender-specific training.
• Strong collaborative and interpersonal skills and ability to work with people from a variety of backgrounds, colleagues and the MoE/GES.
• Prior experience at the international level and in developing countries is considered an asset.

Key skills & Competencies

• Highly functional knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other ICT skills required
• Ability to speak at least one of the dominant languages in the regions of operation
• Skills and experience in external stakeholder engagement including donors, government and private sector and experiences with coordination of multi-stakeholder forums
• Strong communication skills. Experience of presenting to camera will be an advantage
• Skills in report writing and monitoring and evaluation
• Ability to analyse Monitoring and Evaluation data and inform changes in project delivery
• Ability to provide capacity building to Project staff and stakeholders
• Ability to write reports describing lessons learned for a wide range of audiences
• Ability to prescribe and implement innovative solutions to challenges found in a complex distance learning education project with marginalized girls

Personal Attributes

• Self-starter and team player with high standards.
• Ability to multi-task and work under some level of pressure.
• Ability to work in a cross-cultural environment and with multi- and interdisciplinary teams.

Desirable

• An Advanced University degree (Master’s) in Education, or a teaching degree and qualification/licence
• Experience in distance learning and pro-girls’ education development projects and familiarity with the girls’ education sector in Ghana
• Experience supporting learning outcomes of marginalised in-school children and out-of-school children

Location: Tamale