Consultant - Gender Responsive and Inclusive Operational Model at Mercy Corps Nigeria - 4 Openings

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action - helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Consultant for Gender Responsive and Inclusive Operational Model for (Technical and Vocational Education Training) Tvet Institutions

Locations:  Adamawa, Borno, Gombe, and Yobe
Employment Type: Contract

Background
Narrative (2-5 sentences +):

• Feed the Future Nigeria Rural Resilience Activity (RRA) is a 5-year USAID funded program being implemented by a consortium led by Mercy Corps with support from IFDC and Save the Children across the states of Adamawa, Borno, Gombe and Yobe states in North-East Nigeria. Rural Resilience Activity will facilitate economic recovery and growth in vulnerable, conflict-affected areas by promoting systemic change in market systems.
• This will ensure long-term improvements to markets that will sustainably move over 90,000 households out of chronic poverty.

Purpose / Project Description

• The Activity intends to build the capacity of Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) institutions in the targeted intervention locations. Technical and vocational education and training institutions in Nigeria aim to assist the federal and state education authorities in their effort to revitalize, reform and expand the provision of skills, vocations, science and technology to meet the nation's present and future socio-economic needs.
• These TVETs are basically polytechnics, monotechnics, Colleges Of Health Technology and Innovation Enterprise Institutions (IEIs), Vocational Enterprise Institutions spread across the BAYG states in North East.
• In the North East, females compared to their male counterparts are more excluded from participating in educational activities such as technical and vocational education and training (TVET) (Ikenga, 2009). Young females are married off early instead of availing them educational opportunities to acquire technical-vocational skills.
• This accounts for the educational marginalisation of girls. Where girls have access, they end up taking up traditional vocations with subjects tailored along the line of becoming good house-wives and mothers. Boys on the other hand who manage to escape the almajiri system (where boys are taken out of their homes and school in pursuit of islamic knowledge and begging on the streets) are allowed to enroll and take up science and technical vocations.
• Low quality of education arising from /empowerment/professionalization for young people to thrive in the current unfavourable economic context, Low and inequitable enrollment rate, poor gender transformative disposition and inclusive participation in TVET in the North East are factors identified to be deepening the stunted growth rate of micro enterprises amongst youth.

Consultant Objectives
This will be two dimensional and applicants are expected to choose one dimension:

Gender responsive and inclusive operational models for TVETs:

• Introduce the benefits of gender transformative and inclusive operational models towards building small scale industrialists and entrepreneurs from marginalized groups to update their skills in managing their businesses - Recommendations to encourage equal rights to both sexes in education.
• Policy scan and harnessing entry points for networking and relevant information sharing between TVET focal points, academics, private and public sectors actors with similar objectives of building human capital.

Consultant Activities
The Consultant will:
What will they do – bulleted list preferred

• Reinforcing capacity building skills training on resource mobilization for business start up for young people. Building entrepreneurship skills on emerging opportunities, new trends, new markets, in line with courses offered by students in the institutions.
• Gender transformative training related to inclusive enrollment, Separate WASH facilities for boys and girls, protection, career devt, STEM/non-traditional courses for female students, learner-centred teaching methodology, mainstreaming protection.
• An assessment of immediate priority skills needs in the priority economic sectors categorized into skill types and levels
• Identification of other economically significant sectors where skills deficiencies might constrain future employment and economic growth.
• Improved teaching and learning experience for students in TVETs through the use of youtube and other online apps to source for academic info; upgrading to innovative technology-driven teaching methodologies, to improve on the archaic teaching methodologies.
• Improved academic operations model; using google forms for assignments, collating answers and marking, collating results, using simple excel sheets to develop forms for managing school databases/alongside unified EMIS for TVETs.
• Facilitate training for ICT focal points of TVET in four implementation states and setting periodic ICT adaptation and capacity targets for target institutions.

Consultant Deliverables
The Consultants will:

• Conduct pre and post tests for participants
• Find out the most employable skills training courses that can be offered.
• Visit and hold discussions with at least 10 private employers per state to find out their attitude towards provision of internships, and identify ways to create stronger linkages with TVET graduates.
• Identify challenges faced by TVET graduates in getting employment, especially females, and provide relevant recommendations and ways of creating decent work for females.
• Assess how private microfinance institutions provide small business loans and identify best approaches for linking TVET graduates to have access to such services.
• Advice on innovative trades that are in demand and are not covered under that is worth exploring, this includes setting up mini industries and modalities of getting the industries certified..
• Act on all feedback from the planning meetings; Technical preparations for the trainings
• Review and adapt the available training contents and provide advice for integration into TVET institutions
• Conduct the TOT for identified participants in the targeted states. The total number of training days is five days (5) for TOT and thirty participants per cluster
• Provide guidance and support participants with tool kits for gender responsive enrollment tools, session tracking tools and any other feedback mechanisms
• Facilitate Mentoring linkages between the board and TVETs – this involves providing hands on support, experience sharing and improved field level support
• Support institutions to conduct Economic analysis of inactive/malfunctioning centres and corresponding business development plans.
• Present findings to the Rural Resilience Team.

The training sessions should cover (and not be limited to) the following topics:

• Surviving COVID-19 and building the resilience levels of Education in Nigeria.
• Improved teaching quality and Best practices in Learner centred teaching methodologies for TVETs.
• Achieving the strategic role of TVET institutions in the empowerment of youth; Developing human capacity through TVET.
• Becoming Gender Transformative ; deliberate move towards improved access to education and STEM for youth, especially females
• Impact assessment; Monitoring, evaluation and continuous learning in education
• Gender considerations for school management, budgeting, structures, staffing and functional education system development
• Information sharing and access to technology
• Mainstreaming life skills to improve employability skills, entrepreneurial skills development and job-readiness
• Becoming an enterprise; resource mobilization and ensuring school functionality in the face of shocks and stresses
• Collaboration with other consultants, government officials and representatives of business and industry to execute task
• Training Reports soft copy, harmonized for the states with pictures and all MOVs
• Reports of mentoring sessions/refresher training.

Mercy Corps, Responsibilities

• Mercy Corps and its consortium partners will work with state TVETs and the board at the national level to provide training venues, refreshment and make training materials available.
• Mercy Corps will provide accommodation for the duration of the consultant’s activities..
• Mercy Corps will identify and train enumerators/ community based facilitators to support the assessment.

Timeframe / Schedule:

• Review and update training curriculum (three weeks); Week of 27th September- 11th October
• Conduct 5 days training using the adapted curriculum in two clusters-Week of 18th October
• Training Reports soft copy, harmonized for the states with pictures and other MOVs – the week after the activity 5th November, 2021.

The Consultant will report to:

• The Consultant will report to the lead Intervention officer.

The Consultant will work closely with:

• The Consultant will work closely with the Intervention officer and other technical/intervention leads other activity.

Evaluation Criteria & Score:

• Simple proposal detailing value addition for either the Innovative education management solutions for TVET or Gender responsive and inclusive operational models for TVETs, scope of work and key selection criteria for respondents - 40%.
• Experience in similar role/contracts evidenced by certificates, pictures, reports, and materials - 10%
• CV and Cover Letter detailing interface with education related development programs, facilitation skills for inclusive and innovative STEM and TVET interventions - 50%
• Total - 100%

Required Experience & Skills

• BA, M.Sc, Masters or PHD in Education, Information Technology or equivalent in relevant field.
• Work experience as facilitator for capacity building for TVETs or any other educational institutions in Nigeria
• Good mobilisation and facilitation skills.
• At least 3 year previous experience conducting similar training.
• Good Communication skills.
• Fluency in English is required.

Application Closing Date
21st September, 2021

How to Apply
Interested and qualified male and female candidates only should submit their proposals, Curriculum Vitae (CV), Cover letters and other relevant supporting documents to: [email protected] using the Job Title as the subject of the mail. e.g "Consultant for Gender Responsive and Inclusive Operational Model for TVET institute".

Note: Acronyms must be spelled out at first mention. E.g. Training of Trainers (ToT) or Multi-Year Assistance Program (MYAP).