Programme Officer - Sabre Education

Sabre Education is a well-established non-governmental organization (NGO) operating in the Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector. With 19 years of experience, we have actively collaborated with the Ghana Education Service on various impactful programmes.

Job Description

We are currently seeking to recruit a Programme Officer for the Bole district in the Savanna region.

• Department: Programme
• Location: Bole District, Savannah Region
• Immediate Supervisor: Programme Manager
• Contract Term: 1Year
• Direct Report: Nil

Job Purpose

Working with Education Directorates in the various MMDAs, the jobholder will provide support to the Implementation Teams (DITs/MITs) and the District/Municipal/Metropolitan Teacher Support Teams (DTSTs/MTSTs) – working together with these teams to implement teacher training initiatives targeted at KG teachers, headteachers and GES officers and, report to the Director of Education.

The jobholder’s prime objective is to ensure that district teams receive the skills and tools necessary to equip KG teachers to implement the active play-based approach to learning in KG as required by the standards-based KG curriculum.

The jobholder will be responsible for coordinating engagement with key stakeholders, including parents, officials of the MMDAs, private providers, local branches of teacher unions as well as the Regional Education Directorate in the region where the district is located.

Key Responsibilities

• Co-ordinate activities with the education directorate (DED/MED), working through the District Implementation Teams (DITs) and more specifically the District Teacher Support Teams (DTSTs) to implement the National ECE INSET Package which has the objective of supporting teachers to effectively implement active-play based methodologies for instructing young children at the kindergarten level in line with the standards-based curriculum.
• Working through the District Implementation Team (DIT), provide important updates to the Director of Education and make recommendations for the Director to engage the district/municipal/metropolitan education oversight committees (DEOC/MEOC) for support in resolving any issues outlined in the report, as well as for the Director to seek support from community leaders and parents around any issues that border on the welfare of their children.
• Support the District/Municipal/Metropolitan Implementation team (DIT/MIT) to handle the following tasks;
• organise the logistics for teacher training and other related events,
• co-ordinate and support the District Trainers/DTST in training KG teachers, headteachers, circuit supervisors and other GES staff on the use of active play-based teaching & learning strategies in KG
• Develop KG teacher networks into professional learning communities (PLCs) in clusters where teachers have the opportunity to share best practices in line with the provisions of the Ghana Education Service/Ministry of Education
• organise the termly district/group level stakeholder review meetings to review progress and course-correct previous actions/initiatives.
• Work with colleagues in co-facilitating the training of trainers (ToTs) for the DTST in the on the use of National ECE INSET manual for training KG teachers
• Supervise on-going training and support to the DIT/MIT, DTST, KG teachers, headteachers, and GES officers.
• Co-ordinate the monitoring of the project by the DIT/MIT, Director of Education, Deputy Director for Supervision, and SISOs.
• Ensure regular reports and proper documentation of project activities in the district/municipal/metropolitan (documenting lessons learnt, best practices and beneficiary feedback) and share monthly and termly updates with the Programme Manager and other internal stakeholders.
• Work with Programme Manager and team to review project performance against the project budget, ensuring value for money
• Co-ordinate classroom and training monitoring visits by Sabre management, GES/MoE regional and national management, and funders.
• Support the ECE Technical manager(s) in the development and review of training resources in line with existing content.
• Advocate for National ECE INSET Package and promote the use of the active play-based methodology to interest groups within the district and region of implementation.
• Support with any other activities that further the goals of Sabre’s KG programme.
• Ensure regular engagement with Regional Education Directorate in planning monitoring visits and engagement meetings with the education directorate.

Key Performance Indicators

• Efficient use of organizational resources to achieve goals (budget & time)
• Adhere to quality standards in service delivery
• Ensure the achievement of set project targets for the period
• Demonstrated ability to engage a broad range of stakeholders during the period

Required Skills or Experience

Technical Competencies

• Ability to facilitate adult learning through the use of interactive and engaging strategies
• Ability to build and sustain professional working relationships with different groups of people including teachers, head teachers and Ghana Education Service officers, community leaders and parents
• Ability to coordinate the activities of key stakeholders at the national, regional, district and community levels to achieve project outcomes
• Ability to reflect on project related activities, document and report key outcomes and observations/notes
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent user of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other IT tools for the purpose of delivering work products.
• Knowledge in project management principles (cost/quality/scope management)
• Knowledge in early childhood education or child development

Behavioural Competencies

• Goal-oriented and self-motivated to make a change in the lives of children working through the existing educational system
• Be ready to unlearn, learn and progress
• Receptive to the needs of key stakeholders (teachers & headteachers) and able to support teachers and other stakeholders make a shift from long held beliefs and practices around rote-learning and embrace the use of active-play based methodologies
• Be a valuable team player
• Demonstrate innovation in problem-solving across various levels of project implementation

Preferred Qualification & Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences, Project Management or related discipline with minimum of 3 years’ relevant work experience
• Prior classroom teaching or facilitation experience will be considered an advantage
• Preferred Candidate Applications:
• We encourage applications, particularly from candidates residing in the  Northern part of the country.