National Volunteer - Education at Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO)

VSO is the world's leading independent international development organisation that works through volunteers to fight poverty in developing countries. Our highimpact approach brings people together to share skills, build capabilities, promote international understanding and action to change lives and make the world a fairer place.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: National Volunteer - Education

Location: Nigeria
Employer: VSO
Duration: 1 Year

Job Purpose

• Teaching science to students at the junior and senior secondary school level

Responsibilities

• Teach Science to students from all abilities with a particular emphasis on the delivery of Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Agriculture, and Mathematics.
• Ensure that all lessons are planned with clear aims and objectives.
• Ensure that all lessons are delivered in line with the departmental schemes of work and school policies.
• Set appropriate tasks and challenges for homework according to the published timetable, and ensure that it is regularly marked with constructive feedback.
• Keep careful records of student progress in line with departmental and school policy.
• Ensure that there is a high standard of display work in the laboratory, which is changed frequently.
• Keep work areas tidy and organised to promote safety in the laboratory.
• Work with colleagues in the Science Department to formulate plans which have coherence and relevance to the needs of the individual students and to the aims and objectives of VSO and Katsina State Ministry of Education.
• Ensure that all work in the Science Department reflects the distinctive ethos of school/ministry.
• Help develop Science resources for the school.
• Ensure that all experiments are trialled beforehand and risk assessment used with all experimental work.
• Act as a positive role model and promote the aims, values and ethos of the school and uphold all rules and policies.
• Carry out a share of supervisory duties in accordance with normal school schedules.
• Participate in appropriate meetings with colleagues and parents.
• Support the school's culture and practices through extracurricular and co-curricular activities and staff leadership
• Develop effective linkages and collaborate with Key structures that include School Management Committees (SMCs), Parents Associations (PAs) and Parents Teachers Associations (PTAs) for the educational well-being of children as need arise.
• Collaborate with MoE to initiate and implement interventions that will contribute to improved access, retention, completion, relevant and quality education for children within the school community.
• Carry out the normal duties of teachers as set out in the Teachers’ Conditions Document of the Katsina State Ministry of Education.
• Carry out any other duties which may be reasonably required by the Head-teacher.
• Due to the nature of our volunteer placements, it is possible that the responsibilities of this role may differ in reality and therefore the post holder will need to be prepared to be flexible and adapt to their environment as necessary.

Key Performance Indicators

• All lessons are planned with clear aims and objectives.
• All lessons are delivered in line with the departmental schemes of work and school policies.
• Records of student progress in line with departmental and school policy kept.
• Record of Successful delivery of project in line with VSO project methodology, Project delivered on time with expected benefits realised.
• Stakeholders’ satisfaction with standard and frequency of project activity, progress, outcome, communications, and reports.
• High quality and timely reports to internal and external stakeholders.
• All volunteer reports, evaluations and references are completed within deadlines.
• Data and reporting is conducted in line with the plan.
• Evidence of lessons learnt from evaluation documented
• Objectives will be confirmed in a three way discussion between the volunteer, employer and VSO in the first three months of the placement.

Competencies:
Building and Sustaining working relationships

• The social skills to build and actively maintain working relationships that foster teamwork and collaboration with others for the benefit of a common goal.

Open Minded and Respectful

• A non-judgemental approach that values other people and culture.

Seeking and Sharing Knowledge

• Recognition that learning is a two-way and continuous process.

Facilitating Positive Change

• The ability to analyse problems and develop lasting solutions in line with VSO approaches.

Adaptability

• A flexible approach and the ability to adapt behaviour to different situations.

Resilience

• The self-confidence to work with a variety of situations, diverse people and ambiguity.

Skills and Knowledge
Essential:

• Thinking clearly, deeply and broadly.
• Practicing innovation & change.
• Practicing gender & cultural diversity.
• Strong skills for relating and working with men and women, boys and girls.
• Ability to take initiatives, team player who is able to work with minimum supervision
• Familiar with current education sector programming.
• Knowledge on Child protection issues and child rights.
• Communication - Excellent oral and written communication skills with ability to vary communication content and style to suit audiences to inform, motivate and inspire
• Ability to speak fluent Hausa and have experience living and working in Northern Nigeria
• Relationship Building - Ability to build effective working relationships, inspiring confidence and credibility with employees at all levels. Strong influencer of others. Ability to work effectively across a globally dispersed organisation.
• People Management - Experience of management of project team members
• Organisation and planning - Excellent coordination and planning skills with experience of working under pressure. Time management skills.
• Analysis and creative problem-solving - Ability to analyse and quickly grasp the fundamentals of a need or issue. Able to find innovative ways of solving or pre-empting problems.
• Flexibility - Ability to manage a project in a climate of change, recognising and being open to ambiguity, uncertainty and opportunities.
• Education/Qualification for the role - A Bachelor's degree in pure sciences or related field.

Desirable:

• Strong skills for relating and working with men and women, boys and girls.
• Monitoring and Evaluation – Experience of designing a project monitoring and evaluation framework, conducting project monitoring activities and writing reports.
• Practicing gender & cultural diversity.
• Commitment to VSO’s work and values

Remuneration
All volunteers have an allowance paid in local currency. The allowance meets reasonable living expenses in country, but will not be enough tomoney home.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Click here for more Information (PDF)